His Cat
by volar
Summary: Until his teacher came to his house, Lovino never attended any of his Spanish classes. When he was forced to agree to Antonio's deal, he found out Antonio may not be as friendly as he is on the outside, but Antonio sure is nosy. Little did he know, this is the beginning of getting into a tangled relationship with Antonio. Original on Lofter by 君安泽. Translated with permission.
1. Chapter 1

**Translator's note:**

 **First of all, I would like to thank 君安泽 on LOFTER for allowing me to translate and share this amazing piece of work. I apologize in advance for any mistranslation and butchering of the original _(:з」∠)_**

 **The story contains teacher-student relationship, and there are some OCs in the story. Don't like, don't read.**

 _ **THERE WILL BE SOME OCxCANON CHARACTER! IF YOU DON'T LIKE THAT, DON'T READ!**_

 _ **Words from the original author (please read before commenting/continue reading):**_

对于认为文中人物OOC、渣而不喜欢此文的人们，很抱歉我的文让你们看到了这样的安东尼奥。安东尼奥这个角色属于日丸屋秀和，每一个爱他的粉丝都有资格评论和维护同人中的他的形象，对此我不会反驳什么。但相信我，在我心中他也不是一个这样的人，如果你们有耐心读到后半段（14章以后）就会发现这一点。如果你认为不值得读，那请你关闭窗口，忘了它然后去看其它更有趣的文。我英语不好，所以无法亲自对你说我很抱歉。这篇文是我三年前有关Spamano的处女作，尽管有很多人喜欢，但它也的确有太多缺点。如今的我已经有所进步，虽然无法向你们证明：这个作者不是只会产出这样的作品，但还是谢谢你们的意见和鞭挞。

再次感谢阅读

To those who dislike this work because you see the characters as OOC, I apologize for letting you see Antonio being portrayed like this. The character Antonio belongs to Himaruya Hidekaz; every fan who loves him has the right to protect and judge the way he is being portrayed in fanworks. I will not make objections to comments like this. But please believe me, the way Antonio has been portrayed in this work so far is not how I see him. If you have the patience to read to the second half (chapter 14 and beyond) you will find this to be true. If you do not think this work is worth reading, please close the tab, forget about this work and move on to read more enjoyable works. My English is not good; I am sorry that I cannot apologize personally. I wrote _His Cat_ three years ago; it is my first work dedicated to Spamano. Although many people do like it, it is true that this work has many flaws. Right now, I have improved. Although I cannot prove to you that works like this one are not the only kind I produce, I greatly appreciate your opinions and criticism.

Thank you for reading again.

* * *

Lovino Vargas is in a classroom in the university he attends. He is sitting on a couch, which his teacher casually gave him the permission to do so.

He leans back, looking at the ceiling, then at the stack of papers on the coffee table in front of him. They are a bunch abandoned papers, questions with words he doesn't understand- nor does he care to- filled the paper. He is tired, maybe it's because he didn't take a siesta.

To be honest he is somewhat nervous, because right now in this room, he is alone with his teacher. His source of nervousness? The teacher, Antonio Fernandez-Carriedo himself.

Fernandez sits at his desk, too busy with something to pay attention to Lovino. A while later, he puts down his pen, turns to Lovino, and asks with a smile: "Want some coffee?"

"No," Lovino rejects. Fernandez picks up his porcelain mug, and takes a sip of the instant coffee. It has already cooled, but he doesn't mind.

"Second time meeting you, Lovino. Do you remember me?"

Although his tone is a joking one, it does not make Lovino feel any more at ease. It makes him think back to the embarrassing incident. The first time meeting Fernandez was at Lovino's house. When Lovino opened the door, he saw someone he didn't recognize, so he greeted Fernandez with a load of profanity (he thought the other was a salesman, ANND he was in a foul mood that day). Fernandez was there to look for Lovino, who gave the guy-his Spanish teacher for four months since third year of university- the label "a bastard I've never seen before".

"No need for that expression, I just want to have a chat with you." Fernandez senses Lovino's unease and gives a reassuring smile. Looking at Fernandez's smile of optimism, Lovino curses him internally. On the outside the guy seems easygoing, but on the inside? Pure evil. The first encounter gave Lovino enough experience. Although Fernandez's smile is sincere, that does not impress Lovino. _I_ _won't be fooled again, bastard!_ He thinks.

"Let's talk about the retest. That time when I went to your house trying to persuade you into coming for a retest, I was happy that you came as you promised. But..." Fernandez extracts Lovino's test paper, riddled with Spanish words, from the pile on the desk, "you just copied every question and put them as the answer?"

"I had no choice! I said that I don't know any Spanish, bastard..." His tone wavered from the toughness they had in the beginning. Lovino's face is slightly flushed. As someone who took Spanish for almost three years, he is not capable of even writing a complete sentence in Spanish.

And he is embarrassed about it.

"That bitch of a supervisor said I had to fucking finish it, so... I did that..."

He was in university for two and half years, but because he detests Spanish, he often skips the class. What he had learned from the beginning was forgotten little by little, so as time passed by, he fell to where he is now: having absolutely no knowledge of the language. Italian and Spanish are similar, and to Italians, Spanish is one of the easiest language to learn, but if one does not have the heart to learn, then god help his grades. Gradually, Lovino stopped going to Spanish-related classes because of the lack of interest. He did not show up for tests; test is something that brings him misery. If one does not know a language, there is no way to cover up and make the test paper look good.

And in his third year, Lovino never attended any of his Spanish classes, and that's why Fernandez had to look for him.

Things like retest does not interest Lovino. He gave up trying to redeem himself. But the arrival of Fernandez made him change his mind-or maybe it has forced him to. The supposed "persuasion" from Fernandez has him traumatized. The bastard is definitely a demon with a smile.

"You informed me of your situation, but I've never thought that it would be this bad," Fernandez laughs, and Lovino gives him a glare. _W_ _hat's so funny, jerk?_ He asks in his mind.

"Yet you still missed two classes after I have talked to you?"

"You just reminded me to go to the retest..." Lovino avoids Fernandez's eyes, defending himself quietly.

Fernandez looks at him with a smile, but that smile makes his skin crawl. Lovino bursts out, "Don't give me that look, you bastard."

"Is this how you always talk to your teacher?"

"It's your fault! Making that face... I won't be able to sleep tonight... Hey! Wh-h-at are you doing? Don't come closer... bastard..." before he can finish, he sees Fernandez stand up, walking towards him. Instinctively Lovino shrinks into the couch, peering at Fernandez with a dirty look. But Fernandez just places a piece of paper on the coffee table.

"Fill this out."

"What's this?" Lovino lowers his head to look at the content of the sheet. When he sees that it's a form for course retake, he is shocked. "I don't want to!" He rejects without hesitation.

"Why? You have no choice but to retake the course. You've never even passed this course. If you can't get the credit, you can't graduate."

"I will go the the next test! I just need to pass the damn thing, right?!" says Lovino. It's just a test and, there are always ways to cheat...

"Nope," Fernandez says, as if he read Lovino's thoughts, "it's better if you retake the course."

"Definitely no!" Not only that he doesn't want to be in a class with younger students, furthermore, retaking the course costs way too much money. His brother Feliciano's fee for going to a private art school is already an immense expense. The loan is a heavy burden. Plus in twenty-something days Feliciano will go to Germany as an exchange student. Lovino is doing everything he can to avoid unnecessary expenses. "Stop being so meddlesome!" Lovino says to Fernandez.

"But I'm your teacher."

"What university teacher is as nosy as you? Isn't everyone passing all you need to care about?" Lovino says impatiently. "Also, hadn't time for reapplication passed already?"

"I'll deal with that. If you don't go, what are you going to do about this?" Fernandez waves the attendance around. "Lovino, for all of my classes you have a X for attendance. If you get another 0, you will fail. It ends the same way: you have to go to class again."

"Eh!" Lovino is surprised. He has almost forgotten about that.

"If you retake, I will not report this. Also, you cannot ditch class and you have to pass the tests." Fernandez says with what Lovino considers a shit-eating grin.

"Fucker..." _Dammit, is that a threat?_ Without thinking one would know which one is more serious: expulsion versus taking the course again. Is there a more thoughtful threat than this? "Damn... If I agree, you can't rat me out." Lovino mutters while glaring at Fernandez.

"Deal." Fernandez agrees.

Lovino completes the form and signs it, then Fernandez fills in the teacher's comment.

"Thanks, I'll submit it for you."

"If there's nothing else, then ciao, bastard."

"Hm. See you later."

 _I don't want to see you again at all._ Lovino walks out the classroom sulkily. Maybe he needs to tell his brother that this month they are short of money, that it's time to tighten their belts, and say bye to the meat in their pasta. _T_ _his sucks, and it's all that bastard of a teacher's fault!_

When he leaves the school, Lovino doesn't go home directly. He goes to a park near his house. He finds Feliciano there.

Lovino sits on the edge of the flower bed with his arms crossed. Feliciano has set up an easel for drawing portraits. Whenever Feliciano has time, he will come to the park to do this. He doesn't charge a lot for a drawing, but the cost of the coloured ones is double of the black-and-white ones. Sometimes he charges pretty girls nothing. Feliciano is in university for design, since he is an expert at art. Maybe it's the genetics, of how he is similar to their grandfather in this field. But that gene seems to have skipped Lovino.

Their identical faces bring them a lot of customers, because the passers-by would always throw intrigued looks their way. They are a pair of very handsome twins. Whenever a beautiful lady comes by, Lovino is put to use (and why he comes is that he gets to talk with pretty girls). He would say to the girl:

"Watch how your eyes are, please look in my way. Like that, with more emotions. That way the drawing would be more vivid."

So every bella Feliciano draws, they all look to the right. A few have a mist of red on their cheeks. Feliciano can do nothing about his brother's stupid behaviour. If he tries to say anything, Lovino will give him an earful. If he isn't so lucky, he will get a "tornado of Napoli" from Lovino.

But today Lovino looks like he has a lot on his mind. He is not as into flirting with the girls as he usually is. When the sun sets, Feliciano packs up to get ready for going home. They walk through a path in the woods on their way home.

"Hey, big brother, my drawing won another award. The prize money is quite a decent amount." Feliciano says.

Lovino lifts his head. The word prize money caught his attention. "How much?"

"Enough for next month's rent. This month we can relax a bit more!"

"Relax, my ass! Save the money!"

"Ve…"

"It's all because you are fucking going to Germany next month! How much do you think we have left!" He knows Feliciano is very interested in Germany and has always wanted to visit. He finally got the chance to be an exchange student, and he didn't let the chance slip.

"But... without the prize money, we would have just enough money for this month, right? So... "

Lovino becomes momentarily silent, then he tells Feliciano about him retaking the course, and how he has to pay that extra money. His head is lowered and he is kicking the pebbles under his feet. Then he hears Feliciano's light laugh. He looks up to Feliciano's direction.

"Then I had won this money just on time."

"Feliciano..." Lovino whispers. Looking at his brother's care-free smile makes him feel guilty. He can't do anything right. He always does something that makes him a burden. Although his idiot brother always get in trouble, and the two together are like a trouble-causing machine, but he has to admit that right now, his brother is way more admirable and talented than he is.

They walk back to the street they live on slowly. It is an old street. Although it is narrow, it is clean and possesses a special charm. The light gray brick houses on the sides are no taller than three storeys; they have a tranquil and timeless beauty about them. Many houses have flowers in front of their doors and on their windowsills. Green plants climb the walls like a ladder, vines from the flower pots on the second floor drape down like a curtain. The sea of emerald is bejeweled with tender red flowers here and there. It is like a heavenly scene on a medieval scroll.

They live on the second floor of one of the houses, it's their home. They call it home although it is rented, because the university is short of dormitories; many students have to live off-campus like them. On their windowsills there are also flowers, and Feliciano takes good care of them. Feliciano is a little wimp who can't take care of himself properly, but under his hands, the beautiful flowers bloom with life.

They get in the house, Feliciano puts his stuff back in his studio. The "studio" is originally his bedroom, but he has too many things that they clutter the space. On the floor there is an array of designing tools, fabrics, paint, easels, and other things. Sometimes his workspace gets so small that he has to draw in the dining room. Feliciano's bed is already full of tools, and he sleeps in Lovino's narrow wooden bed for this reason. Of course Lovino is unwilling, but Feliciano is like a piece of duct tape, clinging onto him and crying even if he has kicked him out. In the end, Lovino has no choice but to let Feliciano stay.

Feliciano is preparing to draw at the table, he is making illustrations for a magazine. That is one way he earns money. Lovino is changing, he has an interview for his job, which is dancing at a nightclub.

Two years ago he had the same occupation, because the job is easy, and every dancer just has to perform two to three songs a night. Although it's an effortless job, there are some unbearable things about it. He hates it when men look at him with lustful eyes, but of course he doesn't mind when the girls do that to him. The girls liked him a lot; they found him to be quite cute, and they thought that he's good dancer. Handsome and innocent boys like him are always likable. But some men would do inappropriate things to him, and that's why he occasionally got into fights with male customers. The first time he worked he stayed for only two weeks, because a man tried to get into his pants. Lovino declined the offer, but the man bribed his boss, and as a result Lovino was almost raped. Naturally Lovino hasn't told Feliciano of the real reason to why he quit the job. He still gets nauseous thinking about that incident.

But that incident doesn't stop Lovino from finding similar jobs, because dancing is the only thing he can do well. If he doesn't work they will be homeless by the next month. He is fired from his previous job because he toppled over a shelf, and all of his salary has went to paying for the damage. Another reason why he chooses the job is because this club pays their workers weekly with a decent sum. If he can't stand the job, he is free to leave after his first paycheck.

His female friend Rose has recommended him this job, as she works there. The club is fairly popular, and has high standards for their workers. Rose promised their boss that Lovino is an excellent dancer, and that's why Lovino got this opportunity. After contacting the club and settled the time for meeting with Rose, Rose offers to take him there. Before Lovino leaves, Feliciano says he will wait for him for dinner.

Lovino and Rose arrive at the place near the bustling part of the city. It on the second floor of a large building. He tells the bouncer about his reason here, after the bouncer confirms it with the manager, they are let in for free. Upon entering, Lovino discovers that the club is spacious, compared to the cramped chaos of most nightclubs, this place is clearly more high-class, as one can tell from the exquisite and lavish decor. No wonder it's a popular place. But because the sky is just starting to darken, not many people are there.

Lovino notices that there are warning lines surrounding the stage. Rose says security guards sometimes patrol near the stage, because sometimes a drunk or crazy customer would climb onto the stage and cause a ruckus.

Rose leads him to the back stage. Lovino peers into some rooms with curiosity as they pass by.

"These are dressing rooms and you can take breaks here. Every performer has their own room, even if they are a tad small... but that counts as five-star treatment, right? No many clubs can afford to do this. And oh, this big room is for warming up, and you are free to use that pile of clothes in that room over there."

"You seem to know this place well."

"Because I'm part of the backstage crew... Ah, here we are."

Stopping in front of a door, Rose knocks. When she hears the reply come through the door, she opens it.

"You're here," there is a man in his thirties in the room. "Right on time."

"This is Mr. Bevis, the manger of this department. Here's Lovino, the guy I recommended."

"Hello," Bevis nods at Lovino."

"Um...hi."

"Let's cut the small talk. Do you have previous experiences of performing in places like this?"

"I do, but not a lot."

"How much is not a lot?"

"I quit after two months."

"Pardon me, but why did you quit? I want to know this because we want full time workers."

"Because of school. I had a lot of work that semester. Working too late affects me going to class the next morning, so I got another job." Lovino makes up the story, suppressing his vulgar vocabulary.

"Are you still in school?"

"Yes, but that does not affect me working, because most of the time I sleep till noon."

"Okay. Now can you please perform a bit for me, I'll get the music."

Lovino takes off his jacket. He is wearing a tank top underneath. He is muscled, but he isn't buff or anything. His slim muscles from long-term dance training make his skin look taut. When music flows out from the speaker, he sways to the beat. Dancing is as natural as breathing to him, as he _was_ a professional. All of his three teacher in the past considered him a prodigy.

Bevis is full of admiration. After the end of a song, he claps.

"Wonderful! You gave a nice suggestion, Rose!"

"Of course! I told you Little Lovi would be amazing!"

"Very well, I'll give you two weeks of probation. During probation you will receive no salary, but you will get seventy percent of on-stage tips. Any money you get off-stage is yours to keep. You will start working this Saturday, and you're scheduled to perform after ten-thirty every night. Is that alright?"

"Isn't two weeks too long?" Two weeks of zero salary.

"You will become a formal employee early if you do an exceptional job. In fact, most of the workers leave on the first week of probation, because whether they stay or not depends on how much tips they get. If you want to earn money or stay, you better come up with ideas to keep the customers entertained." Bevis says, his words speaking volumes.

What he implies repulses Lovino a little. Lovino gets what he means. But dancing and keeping company with girls are all Lovino can do. Of course he will keep his complaints to himself. Right now a job that pays is a good job. He will just try his best to avoid what he can, if he fails, he will quit.

Lovino leaves the club and Rose stays to work. When he gets home, Feliciano has pasta made for him. Eating pasta is the most enjoyable thing about his day, because pasta makes him throw away his worries. After the meal, he takes a shower and then goes to sleep.

* * *

 **TN:**

 **Lovino referring to Antonio by his last name plays an important role in the story, in case you're wondering.**


	2. Chapter 2

Reapplication for the course is quickly settled. The original date for reapplication has long since passed, but the bastard has somehow managed it. So here Lovino is, three extra classes every week.

The class is about to start, Lovino is sitting in a corner of the class, a hand on his forehand and spinning a pen in the other.

"Excuse me, is anyone sitting beside you?" Hearing a girl ask him, Lovino shakes his head. He senses the girl sitting down.

"Huh? Did you walk into the wrong class? How come I have never seen you around?" The girl says to him.

Lovino looks up at her, all his tiredness from before is gone in a flash. She's a pretty girl! He sits up tall and takes her hand. "My name is Lovino. Nice to meet you, can you tell me your name?"

"I'm Jenny," shyly, the girl pulls her hand away, but Lovino has her hand in a tight grip.

"Hi, Jenny! Wow, you're very cute!"

Hearing his straight-forward compliment and feeling his heated stare, Jenny chuckles, a little bashfully. Lovino talks to her with techniques he mastered. All Vargas men have one good trait: their flirting skills come naturally. This trait became a genetic thing, so even Lovino's dumb (in his opinion) brother is an expert at this.

The bell rings, announcing the start of a class, a short and heavy-set middle-aged woman walks in. She is the teacher of this Spanish class. Lovino's name is at the end of the attendance, when his name is called, he says here. Ms. Eve raises her head and fixes her glasses, then she calls Lovino's name again and makes him raise his hand so she sees him.

"So you are the third-year student who is retaking this course, Lovino Vargas. Mr. Fernandez asked me to pay special attention to you so you don't skip class. Every class from now I will make sure you are here, so please don't be absent," says the hag with deliberate slowness, making the entire class throwing curious glances Lovino's way. Lovino hears people saying, is he really a third-grade student, did they hear wrong, why is a third-grade in a freshmen class. He sees Jenny giggling with a hand on her mouth. _W_ _hy is life so hard,_ thinks Lovino as he puts a hand to his forehead. In his mind, he showers the woman with his colourful vocabulary. _What she said can't be said privately_? He gives Fernandez the same treatment in his mind as he has given the bitch. Fernandez, it's the first time he hears the fucker's name from the woman. Before that he does not even know the damn bastard's name, and Lovino is reluctant address him as his teacher. In fact, he never uses honorifics to anyone except his family members.

The freshman course is easy, but if he is sitting in the class with hatred in his heart, then it's a different case. He is bored to death, and almost falls asleep a few times. Sitting here is wasting time. If he has time, he will use this time to work.

But what's meant to come will come. He still has Spanish-related classes today, and Fernandez is the teacher. Fine. He accepts his fate and goes to the classroom, only to discover all the front-row seats are taken, leaving him no choice but to sit in the back. Good.

"Lovino?" Hearing the familiar voice, Lovino's sight follows it. His friend Anna is waving at him. "Lovino, come here. Here's an empty spot."

Anna sits in the first row. Originally Lovino wants to waste away his time in the back, but Anna's invitation makes him change his mind immediately. He sits down beside Anna.

"Why does it feel like I haven't seen you in forever?" Anna says.

"Long time no see. I missed you." Lovino sits down beside her, holding her hand.

"Hey... We're in a class, seriously." Anna pushes him away. Lovino sits down with his hands to himself.

"Ehe, you're still your old self." Anna smiles at him. The classroom is noisy. Lovino glances around, then he notices how packed the classroom is.

"Why are there so many damn people?" Lovino says.

"He's a foreign teacher. A lot of students who are not in this class come here for this reason."

"Foreign?"

"You didn't know that? This teacher's Spanish. Of course he's the perfect candidate for Spanish class," explains Anna.

The guy is Spanish. Hm.

"And don't you think that he's hot? He's really nice, too. Everyone likes him."

Seeing the sparkles in Anna's eyes, Lovino wants to tell her that Fernandez is not as simple as he seems.

"But... he's super scary when he's mad. Even if he doesn't do anything, one look from him makes you feel like you wanna die. But he's not easy to anger."

"So you know," Lovino says.

The bell rings, Fernandez walks in. "Bueno días!" He places his books on the desk and greets the class. Lovino knows this, it means good morning. Fernandez spots Lovino in one try, and he smiles at Lovino. Lovino snorts quietly, turning his head away.

Fernandez teaches in Spanish, but it's not like Lovino understands nothing, because Spanish and Italian sound similar, with the textbook he can follow the lesson. But he doesn't know how to take notes, so he just copies whatever is on the blackboard. If something isn't written on the blackboard, he's helpless.

Luckily, Anna is there to help him. She lends her notes to Lovino.

It is true that Fernandez is good at teaching. He has the typical Spanish charms, a sunny smile, and a zeal that touches one's heart. Compared to other teachers and their mundane lectures, his classes are much more lively.

But that has nothing to do with Lovino. He is not interested, the feeling of being forced to pay attention in class annoys him. He lies down on the desk, throwing a resentful look at Fernandez. Sensing his gaze on him, Fernandez meets his eyes. They hold the eye contact for two seconds, then look away simultaneously.

 _Tch. What are you looking at!_ Lovino doodles circles on his notebook out of boredom. After a while, Fernandez walks towards him, then lightly with two fingers, he presses down Lovino's hand that is holding the pen. Lovino lifts his head to look at him, and he returns the look out of his peripheral vision, then he removes his hand.

Lovino lets go of his pen. No big deal.

Finally two classes pass, the bell rings. Fernandez dismisses his class on time, and the students file out of the classroom. Anna suggests she walks with Lovino, and of course, Lovino agrees without hesitation. But Fernandez asks Lovino to stay, so Anna leaves without him.

Lovino stays in his seat, no intention to go to where Fernandez is. Fernandez just makes him wait, he doesn't beckon him over. Everyone else has left, the classroom is empty expect for Lovino and Fernandez. Fernandez is writing something, when he finishes he looks up, and sees Lovino leaning back on his chair with his arms crossed and regarding him with a pout.

He is adorable.

Fernandez walks to where Lovino is, picks up his book and flips through it. "Take care of your books," he says to Lovino.

"That's all you wanna say? I rejected a girl for you, bastard!" Lovino complains.

Fernandez puts down the book, gets a pen, and tutors him on today's notes and important lessons.

"How's the course going? Is it going well?"

"That bitch is annoying, and I'm not getting along well with the girls. Lemme ask you, why do you have that damn hag breath down my neck every class to see if I'm there? She's like "is Lovino - the Lovino who's retaking the course - here?" in her annoying thin voice every class! Even if she doesn't take attendance she will still call me up, do you how embarrassing it is, bastard?"

Bitch? Must be Ms. Eve. The way Lovino strains his voice to mimick Eve is amusing.

"Yeah, it's true I'm telling her to pay attention to whether you're skipping class or not, but I didn't tell her to use this method..." Fernandez explains.

"Shut up! Now all the girls think I'm a lame-ass! I met this really cute classmate, but now she laughs at me! All your fault, fucker!"

 _Is girls the only thing on this brat's mind?_ Fernandez leans forward on his arms, towards Lovino. The sudden close proximity frightens Lovino, he looks anxiously at Fernandez, who is gazing down at him. Fernandez lifts a hand, and strokes Lovino's head.

"Don't always think about girls, pay attention in class, hm?"

"Don't touch me!" Lovino screeches with a light blush on his cheeks. If Lovino hasn't seen the other side of Fernandez, he would think that Fernandez is a kind teacher who cares about his students' well-being. But now his every one of his actions seem threatening. "And you're too close to me!"

Fernandez gives him a smile and he stands up straight. "And no need to look so nervous in my class, I won't pick on you. You know nothing, right?"

"Shut up!" Lovino glares at him. He grabs his books and leaves the classroom at lightning speed. Fernandez watches as Lovino leaves, and he cannot hold in his laughter. All of a sudden, he thinks Lovino is like a cat: easy to anger, waving its claws trying to seem vicious, but in reality can't do any damage.

 _What's wrong with the freaky bastard!_ Lovino runs down the stairs quickly after he exits the class. Thinking how he will have classes with this bastard makes him want to cry.

Saturday is his first day working at the nightclub. He leaves his house an hour early, he has to given up dinner - the meal which Italians value the most - to keep himself in a good shape for performing. Because Italian dinners usually starts at nine, not only that he doesn't have the time to enjoy it, but there's also no guarantee that he can digest it at that late.

Although the club provides costumes for the performers, but Lovino chooses his clothing himself. It's his first time performing, if he wants a lot of tips, he must impress everyone. To be honest, the income of people who work at places like that are mostly tips, not their salary, and Lovino is aware of that.

He chooses to wear a form-fitting long-sleeved black flannel shirt. The collar and the hems of the sleeves are decorated with clusters of white fur. The shirt is designed by Feliciano himself, so it hugs his figure in all the right places. Feliciano says that he has a nice body. Along with black shoes and pants, he has a silver belt as an accessory.

Feliciano wants to come, but is stopped by Lovino. He threatens Feliciano that if he dares to show up in places like that by himself, there will be no more olive oil and tomatoes in his pasta.

Lovino gets to his workplace on foot. When he is at the threshold, he shows a card Bevis has given him so he can entre without paying. Right now is a busy time, the ground-rattling music and screams make him irritated as hell, and the blinding lights on the stage give him a headache. He goes to the backstage and sees Bevis. Bevis says there is still time, so he will meet his boss.

Lovino follows him, Bevis takes him to a private booth in the club. As Lovino gets closer he sees that under the dim light, there are a few people sitting. A man with somehow long blond hair is embracing a girl elegantly in one arm, with another a girl in his other arm, and beside him another girl is trying to please him. The other person is sitting aside, his head low and a glass in his hand. A girl is sitting so close to him that she is partially leaning on him, and the pair seems to be in a conversation.

 _What a fucking corrupt bunch. Which one's the boss?_ Probably the one with a bunch of girls in his arms. Turns out Lovino guessed right. The supervisor leads him to the couch and introduces the boss as Francis. When Francis sees Lovino, he grabs Lovino's hand, his attractive eyes glinting with something suspicious.

"Is this the newbie? He's quite lovely! Let big brother give you a kiss of love."

 _What the fuck!_ Lovino struggles to pull away. "No! Let go!"

"Oho, blushing and fighting make you look even lovelier. Big brother likes you very much."

"Pervert!" Lovino throws a look at Bevis. The hopeless expression on Bevis' face indicates that he has seen this often, and that he has no intention to help.

A man on the other side of the couch looks up. "Lovino?" exclaims the man.

Lovino stiffens, he turns his eye to the speaker. _Fernandez!_ Fernandez gives Lovino a puzzled look, his eyes betraying traces of drunkenness. "What are you doing here?"

"Working, you jerk!" Lovino will not going to admit this womanizer is his teacher even if his life depends on it.

"Antonio, is he someone you know?" Francis asks with Lovino's hand still in his grasp.

"Yep. My student."

"An acquaintance... then that makes things easier. Come into Big Brother's arms."

"Hey! Stop it, you asshole!" Lovino wants to punch him.

"Let go, Francis."

"Tch. What a shame." Francis grimaces at Fernandez's expression. He releases Lovino, but he gives him a wink. "Very eager to see your performance!"

 _Absolutely intolerable._ Lovino walks away, sickened and hairs standing on ends, towards the back stage to get ready. Rose greets him.

"Hi, good evening. Do you need to use the change room?"

"Good evening. No, it's alright, I'll just wear this."

"Not bad. But I still want to show you around, for later references."

Lovino follows her into the room. There is a wide variety of clothing, and it's a very grand collection. But he has an almost-professional personal designer at home, so he has no need for these clothes.

"This one is cute. I think it suits you!" Rose says with a beam as she takes out a pair of cat ears and places them on Lovino's head.

"Oi..."

"See, suits you perfectly." Rose drags him to a mirror. The cat ears has some unexpected effects combined with the costume. He looks like he is cosplaying a cat.

"And this..." Rose retrieves a cat tail accessory and fastens it behind Lovino. Because he is handled by a pretty girl, Lovino does not protest. "Wow! Super adorable! Some girls like to wear this when performing, and the customers seem to like it."

Lovino knows these are popular. Girls look wonderful with them.

"Hey hey, will you wear this later? You will look so cute!" _You're the cute one._ Lovino can't resist Rose's twinkling eyes.

"If... if you would like... Dammit."

Rose lifts his hand and examines his finger tips. "Wanna paint your nails? It would make your claws stand out!"

Claws, huh... Lovino doesn't deny the idea. Whatever. It is a pretty good idea after all, if you look at it in a way. So Rose paints his nails black.

Checking out his new attire, Lovino tries out a few poses to test the results. Suddenly he has an idea of what to do.

It's already eleven o'clock. When it's almost time for his shift, Lovino scans the audience from the backstage. The crowd below the stage is a rowdy bunch, and his job is to get these rowdy people even more rowdy. Although he has only two weeks of previous experience, but he has learned plenty. Attracting people is not a difficult task for him. He pulls out half of his shirt so it hangs over the belt. It gives him a cooler look.

Before he goes up, he tells the lighting technician that he doesn't want any flashy effects. He wants to keep it simple and bright, and focus on him in a way that people can see him easily. But at the opening, he wants the backlight so it hides him and projects a silhouette.

The technician is confused. Isn't flashy lighting what nightclubs are about? Bevis temporarily approves of Lovino's decision because the boss favours him. The technician has no choice but to agree.

Anyways, a dancer attracts people by his own skills, not by dizzying light effects.

The song ends and it's Lovino's turn. The stage turns dark, he stands in the middle. The music starts, the lights are on. A feline shadow appears. This cat is a naughty one. With his face hidden, the dancer's body sways to the beat of the music, his graceful figure and cat ears drawing dirty imaginations. Although there's only a mere silhouette, he lures people with his tempting invitations.

The lighting changes and illuminates the face of the dancer occupying the stage, revealing a gorgeous boy. The haughty expression on his face gives him an air of coquettishness. A wave of screaming has already began.

Lovino swings his lithe body, his steps are delicate, as if he is a cat sauntering through the night. His dance is nothing sort of provocative, but saucy and cute. Every move is just right. When people watches a dance, majority of them focus on the dancer's face, so expression is the key to impress them.

Lovino is very confident about his appearance. He lifts a hand and gently strokes across his cheeks. People notice his black nails - a dangerous seduction. Following his hand, people see his half-lidded eyes. His eyes are captivating the crowd, like a languid cat watching its owner with arrogance when at the same time, it is asking for a loving touch. But that's a wild cat on the stage. He has no owner, and he is making the crowd go wild for him. This cat gives one the desire to discipline him, to make him an obedient little pet.

"That's your student?" Francis watches the performer, and says to Fernandez who is beside him, "what a show."

Fernandez doesn't reply. With a glass of wine in his hand, he watches Lovino with a deep look in his eyes. This wild kitten always does the unexpected.

"Hey, after he finishes, tell him to come here." Francis says and gestures at a nearby waiter.

Waiters zip through the crowd with plates in their hands to collect tips. Although each tip is not a big sum, but bills start to pile up on the plate. It is a large accomplishment for a first-timer on stage.

At the ending, Lovino pulls a striking move, then he proceeds to his next number. Two songs later, his shift is over. The crowd below the stage chants his name like a mantra, begging him not to leave. He waves at them, then exits the stage.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hetalia and characters belong to Hidekazu Himaruya, _His Cat_ and OCs belong to 君安泽.**

* * *

As soon as Lovino gets to the backstage, he slumps against a wall and massages his knee. _J_ _ust bear through one more song, and then I can go home,_ he tells himself.

"Mr. Vargas, Mr. Francis would like to buy you a drink." A waiter says as he walks towards Lovino.

 _That old perv?_ Lovino is unwilling even if Francis is his boss. "Can I say no?"

"Please don't make this difficult for me." The waiter has a helpless grimace.

 _Oh well, I just go see_. In the change room, Lovino takes off his cat ears and cat tail. As soon as he gets there he will use the excuse that he needs to perform his next number to get away.

Lovino arrives at Francis' booth. Francis waves at him.

"Come here, Little Lovi!"

The nickname has Lovino shivering with disgust. Fernandez is not here, so Lovino sits as far from Francis as possible. But Francis yanks Lovino close to him, wraps an arm around his shoulder, and pours him a glass of wine.

"Your dance was marvelous! Such an adorable child~ Don't be so stuck up! Here, have a drink."

 _I'm not stuck up, I just don't want to be near you._ Lovino takes a sip out of his glass. The old perv is making him uncomfortable.

"Can I go now, bastard? I still need to perform." Lovino says.

"No, no need."

"Why?"

"Because they will miss you more," Francis leans close to Lovino, whispering in his ear with a voice smooth as silk, "you'll perform more tomorrow."

"Eh? Can I do that?"

"Of course. You are now a formal employee," Francis clinks his glass with the one in Lovino's hand. "Cheers."

Then a waiter comes, looks at Lovino, and says to Francis:

"Mr. Francis, the gentleman at table seven requests to spend the night with Mr. Lovino. He wishes to discuss the price."

"Tell him to fuck off!" Lovino shouts, like a cat with that got its tail stepped on. He thinks back to two years ago. If his boss dares to tell him to go, he will dump the wine on him and stuff his stubbly chin in the glass.

 _Seriously, this brat is so elegant on stage, yet the total opposite when he's off stage._ Francis looks at Lovino speechlessly, but he tightens his hold on Lovino, leaning closer to him.

"Little Lovi, Big Brother is curious if you wish to spend a fine night with me?"

"Go to hell, stubble bastard!" Lovino grabs his collar.

"Calm down," Francis removes his hand. "It's your choice whether to spend the night with a customer or not, I will not interfere. However, you have to decline his offer yourself." Francis pats Lovino's shoulder, Lovino shrugs him off and stands up. Francis asks the waiter, "Who is at table seven anyways?"

"...Mr. Gray."

"That pervert?" Francis waves his hand. _Y_ _ou have no right to call him that!_ Lovino thinks. "But Little Lovino, you can't pick a fight. Customers. Are. Our. Kings."

 _You may go to hell._ Lovino thinks venomously. Lead by the waiter, Lovino comes to table seven. The waiter leaves. All the customers at that table are willing to buy Lovino a drink, but Lovino rejects.

"Who wanted to see me?" He asks.

"Me." A prim-looking man in suit says. "How much?"

Lovino wants to cuss him out, but he suppresses the urge. "I'm not interested."

"How regrettable," the man shrugs, "I wish you will sit down and have a drink with me. I will give you extra tips."

Lovino ponders over the offer, but he sits down anyways. "Just one drink. Give me my money after that, bastard." He says bluntly.

People at the table start to jeer. The man fills a glass to the brim and passes it to Lovino. He takes it, raising his glass to the crowd, and he takes a swig. As the drink settles in his stomach, he realizes that it is some kind of strong liquor. He squints at the man. Clubs like this wouldn't sell liquor. The man smiles in response, "You have to finish it."

 _What the hell_. Lovino is a bit of a lightweight. He stands up and is ready to leave, but someone tugs at his hand.

"Are you going back out of the deal?"

"Damn you! That's so fucking low of you to use liquor!"

"I never said what drink I'm going to give you."

 _Go to hell!_ Lovino is disgusted by the lascivious look on the man's face. He wants to draw his hand back, but he can't.

"Let go! Or I will scream!"

"You think people can hear you in a noisy place like this?" The man shrugs, "Even if you do get someone's attention, I will cover your mouth before you can make a sound. Look around, no one will notice what's happening here."

 _Fuck! What the hell does he want!_ The leers on the people at the table's faces drill fear into Lovino; he doesn't know what to do.

"What are you doing here, Lovino?"

Someone circles an arm around his waist, pulling him into their embrace. Lovino jumps, turning around, and see it's Fernandez! Lovino stares at him, at loss of words.

"Didn't I tell you to not wander around, and wait for me like a good boy?" Fernandez whispers into Lovino's ear. Lovino stiffens. _What the fuck is he talking about?_

"If you treat him like that, I won't be happy." Fernandez says to me the man with a smile, his eyes looking pointedly at the hand on Lovino's. He holds down the man's wrist. "So please let go of him."

Feeling pain bloom in his wrist, the man releases Lovino immediately. He grimaces, massaging his wrist with his other hand. He looks at the person in front of him resentfully, but he apologizes anyways because it's Fernandez he's dealing with. "My apologies, Mr. Fernandez. I didn't know that he is with you.."

"Let's go." Fernandez says to Lovino softly, arms wrapping around him. Then he turns around and leaves. Getting away from there, Lovino wakes up from his daze. He realizes that Fernandez has just saved him. _Should I thank him_? But that isn't Lovino's priority: the hand that is placed deliberately on his waist is. The position makes them look like a couple; it makes Lovino burn from the heat, with the most intense at his waist. Where Fernandez's hand is at is searing hot. _H_ _ow long is he going to stay like this_! They should drop their act, seeing that they are far from the scene already.

"Let go, bastard." Although his words are vulgar, the tone of Lovino's whisper is nothing sort of coarse. After all, Fernandez has saved him.

Fernandez releases him, and brings him back to Francis' booth. Francis raises his glass at Lovino. "How did it go? Dealt with the business successfully?" he says.

Lovino glares. "Can I go home now?" Because earlier Francis said that he has finished performing for today.

"You may. Find Bevis and sign the contract. He knows already."

After Lovino leaves, Fernandez smiles at Francis. "Do you have a death wish?"

"Don't give me that shady look. Big Brother will have nightmares tonight." Francis says miserably. "What happened?"

"He will become your cash cow. Even if you don't want to offend a customer, you still shouldn't throw him to the wolves."

"Throw him to the wolves? That kid is brighter than that."

"What I'm saying is that if things like this happen again, you should reject them for him."

"Make decisions for him? That's not very good. What if he gets lonely one day, and he wants to do it.."

"Francis!"

"Okay, okay, just don't give me that look," Francis sips his wine. Lovino is such an innocent child, but that innocence leads him to trouble. When facing someone who wants to pay for a night with him, he should be more cautious.

"Plus, Antonio, don't tell me to do things like this. Can't you arrange things like this yourself? Half of the club's sponsorship comes from you."

"You're the boss," Antonio beams, "I don't want to trouble myself with things like this."

"Annoying Spaniard, you're too laid back, making Big Brother do everything. Big Brother wants to enjoy life, too."

"I think you're enjoying your life enough as it is."

"Anyways... It seems like you care a lot about him. Have the hots for him?"

"An interesting little creature, no?" Thinking about the difficult little kitten who likes to flash his claws and the said kitten's adorable expressions, Fernandez smirks involuntarily. He wants to tame the kitten, and he is eager for the results..

Suddenly, Fernandez's phone rings. He has a text; the screen displays the name "Annie". She is a girl who he encountered not long ago at a bar, but he hasn't contacted her for two days. The message says "I miss you." Well, the lady has made the first move, it's his role as a man to respond to her invitation. Fernandez always treat ladies with passion. He gets up and goes to the hallway, dialing the girl's number.

Lovino finishes signing the contract, and he gets seventy percent of the tips. Although the percentage is only seventy, but the sum is more impressive than he has initially thought, but he isn't very surprised at that. Ordinary Italian folks enjoy simple entertainments, people who can tip in places like this are people who have too much money to burn. He asks Rose for nail polish remover to clean his nails, then he goes home.

It is half past midnight already. Empty-stomached, Lovino is starving. Feliciano should be asleep already, so he has to make food himself when he gets home.

Exiting the club, Lovino sees Fernandez in the hallway. He leans against a window, talking on the phone while smoking a cigarette. _H_ _e wouldn't have time to mind me, so boring greetings can be spared._ Lovino wants to walk past him without a second glance, but comes a crowd of people, blocking two thirds of the hallway. Lovino has to avoid them, walking in Fernandez's direction with his head down. Then Fernandez raises his hand with the cigarette in it, and stops Lovino. Lovino stands on the spot, looking at him.

"Ok, goodnight." Fernandez hangs up the phone. He asks Lovino: "Going home?"

"Yes."

"You can hail a cab at the end of the street."

"I'm walking." Lovino says. Luxuries such as taxis aren't for poor people.

"It's a long walk. Isn't walking outside so late dangerous?"

"Doesn't matter," As the words leave his mouth, he is ready to leave.

"I will walk with you."

"Huh?" Lovino is taken by surprise. _Seriously?!_ But Fernandez is dead serious, he follows Lovino.

"No, no need... Bastard," Lovino rejects frantically. Even if he is his teacher, but they don't know each other that well, there's no need for Fernandez to be this way. _Isn't he being a bit nosy?_ But Fernandez doesn't ask for his opinion, he just decides to walk beside Lovino.

"Do you mind?" Fernandez raises the cigarette between his pointer finger and middle finger. Lovino shakes his head.

The pair walks down the dimly-lit street. It is tranquil, broken streetlights twinkling in the scene. Lovino feels uncomfortable walking beside the person, maybe because he is his teacher? But Lovino has never given this teacher a trace of respect, nor does he listen to him. This can be seen by how Lovino never add "Mr." in front of the name Fernandez, whether in his mind or when addressing the said person.

"Hey, do you take dance lessons?"

"Hm?" Lovino's lowers his eyes, "I stopped a long time ago."

"Why?"

"Why the hell do you have so many questions? You're annoying."

Fernandez glances at him. He crushes the cigarette beneath his feet. A chilly wind passes by, making Lovino shiver. _Fuck! It's so cold at midnight!_ He didn't worry too much about the weather because it's not snowing this year, so he didn't bring enough clothes. He almost wants to hug his own shoulders and hiss at the cold but the doesn't do it because he has company.

"Are you cold?"

"No!"

Fernandez smiles at him, draping his coat on Lovino's shoulder. "Don't catch a cold," he says gently.

"What about you?" Lovino asks in a soft voice. Fernandez is only wearing a white shirt now.

"I'm fine," Fernandez beams at him.

 _Damn bastard doesn't look cold at all._ Lovino tightens the coat around him, Fernandez's warmth still lingers. Gradually Lovino starts to warm up, his cheeks are flushing with heat, like the liquor he had earlier is starting to have its effect.

"Don't have drinks with strangers." Just a moment earlier, he is thinking about alcohol, and then Fernandez mentions this. "In places like that, people can disappear unnoticed. Even if their disappearance dooes get noticed, people wouldn't find that weird. You know that?" Lovino is a newbie on his first day, with no background, that's why people have the guts to be like that to him.

"I get it," Lovino says with a pout. It's his fault this time. Fortunately, Fernandez has found him and saved him. Perhaps he really should express his gratitude, but the words refuse to come out of his mouth. After a mental argument, he gathers the courage, and says quietly: "Thank you... for helping me."

"Hm?" Fernandez turns to face the one beside him. Lovino has his head lowered, his cheeks puffing out, and there is an expression of awkwardness on his face. Under the lamplight, Lovino's face is red, like a tomato. He laughs.

"What?!" Lovino glowers at him. It has taken him a lot to say that, so why the hell is Fernandez laughing?

"You're so cute," Fernandez laughs. _What the fuck!_ Lovino turns around, trying to land a kick on Fernandez, but he dodges. The kitten is pissed off again. Lovino snorts, increasing his pace, leaving his companion behind. "Bastard! Don't follow me!" he shouts.

Fernandez does not follow him immediately, instead he keeps a bit of distance between he and Lovino. Looking at Lovino's back, he sees that Lovino has a very attractive figure, and that can be seen especially when he was on stage earlier. The form-fitting shirt he has worn brings out his body in the most perfect ways. It only makes him more alluring, knowing that he is flexible. Images of Lovino with cat ears and tail float in Fernandez's mind. This naughty, disobedient, difficult kitten lights one's desire to conquer him.

Lovino is blushing, the heat of his cheeks is scorching hot. He blames it on the alcohol. He is aware that Fernandez is still following him. Heat creeps onto his back as he imagines the way Fernandez's gaze burning into him. He wants to shout _"What the fuck are you looking at?"_ at Fernandez. It would make him feel better, but what if Fernandez is not staring? What should he say if he's caught looking back like that?

He can't shrug off that feeling. "Hey!" he shouts as he turns around. True to his prediction, Fernandez _is_ staring at him. Even as their eyes meet, Fernandez doesn't look away.

"Hm?" Fernandez smiles at him.

Lovino swallows, the words _"What are you looking at?"_ stuck in his throat. Finally he decides to reply with a snort, and then turns away.

Fernandez doesn't understand what is this kitten playing at now.

For the rest of the walk, the two settled in silence. Gradually Fernandez caught up to Lovino. Lovino is avoiding his eyes, and neither of them wishes to talk. The echoing of their steps are the only noises, but the silence is not an awkward one. Approximately twenty minutes later, they arrive at the street Lovino lives on. Lovino tells Fernandez that he doesn't have to follow him farther. Fernandez stops, Lovino is going to take off the coat and return it, but his hands are caught but Fernandez's.

"There's still a bit of walk. Wear this home, don't catch a cold."

Lovino grunts in reply, but he doesn't object. He hasn't gone too far when Fernandez calls him to a stop. Lovino turns around, looking at him with confusion.

"Goodnight," Fernandez smiles.

"Tch." Lovino rolls his eyes at Fernandez, then he turns around to leave. When he is in front of the building he lives in, he looks to the direction of the street. Fernandez is still there, watching him. Even from this distance, Lovino can feel the intensity of his gaze. He dashes up the stairs. Fernandez leaves once Lovino is up the stair. He calls a cab to take himself home.

Lovino pushes the door open gently. He turns on the light, finding Feliciano asleep at the dinner table. He walks over and gives Feliciano a nudge.

"Feliciano? Go sleep on the bed, you idiot!"

Feliciano wakes up, rubbing the sleepiness from his eyes. He sees that Lovino is home. "Big Brother, you're back. I've made dinner, I'll heat it up for you."

"Okay..."

 _Did he stay up just for me?_ Lovino is moved.

"How was work?"

"Pretty good. I got quite a lot of tips, and that bastard of a boss agreed to let me become an official employee. I just got the contract."

"Really? I know Big Brother can do it."

Lovino is absolutely ravenous, as soon as Feliciano puts the pasta in front of him he wolfs it down.

"Is that enough? I will make more..." Feliciano says. Of course it's not enough, but Lovino stops him.

"Enough, go to sleep. I'm tired as hell. I will do the dishes tomorrow."

"Ve... Never mind, these dishes are kinda new, so let me do it."

"What the hell do you mean? It's not like I break a dish every time!" Lovino screams at his idiot brother, then he gives him a far-from-gentle noogie.

"Sorry! Owowowow..."

After a bit of horsing around, Lovino goes to bathroom to shower. All that dancing made him sweat a lot. Feliciano washes all the dishes, and then the brothers go to their bedroom. Lovino is fast asleep as soon as he gets under the blanket in his birthday suit, the alcohol he had earlier acting like sleep pills. Feliciano strips down to being naked, then he turns off the lamp. Both brothers have the habit of sleeping nude.

"Goodnight, Big Brother."

"Yeah... Goodnight, dumb little brother."


	4. Chapter 4

**Happy holidays! I struggled quite a bit with this chapter, so if you notice any (stupid) mistakes, please correct me. Hopefully I'll be able to update more frequently now since I'm on winter break :3**

* * *

When Lovino wakes up the next morning, Feliciano is gone already. When did the kid wake up, Lovino doesn't notice; he must have slept like a log.

Today is Sunday, Feliciano is possibly at the park, drawing portraits for people. The weather is quite nice, Lovino decides to do the laundry after breakfast. He and his brother are never good at organizing their clothes, their clothes are just thrown around randomly. All of their clothes are chic but cheap, because they have sold their brand clothing to a thrift store. Some of their clothing are hand-made by Feliciano using cheap fabric, the tailoring and design can compete with clothes sold on in stores.

The house is a mess despite Feliciano being good at cleaning, because there is Lovino who is good at destroying. Living alone for a long time has created Lovino's chaotic habits. When he is organizing the clothes that need to be washed, he sees Fernandez's coat laying on the back of the couch. He wants to wash it, but the label on the expensive coat tells him that he can't just throw this in a washing machine. He dismissed the idea and tosses the coat somewhere like it's a piece of trash. When he finishes hanging up the laundry, it is noon already. He bought two servings of bread at milk at the market, then he goes to the spot where his brother is usually at.

Feliciano is there, he doesn't have any customers yet. Feliciano is sketching the landscape that is a frequent guest of his paper. Lovino sits down on the edge of the flowerbed ***(see T/N)**. He takes out his sharing of bread and milk, and tosses the rest - along with the bag - to Feliciano. They enjoy their lunch out in the sunshine.

With just their faces, they have attracted a lot of customers this afternoon. It's still Lovino's job to flirt with girls. Whenever a girl passes by, he would call out to them: "Willing to leave your beauty on the canvas of a future famous artist? It's for free!"

Lovino would say as he holds the girl's hand, his eyes clear and sincere. Then when the girl looks to Feliciano, Feliciano would have a dumbly cute expression, waving his hand at the girl. "It's for free!"

But when they finish, a lot of the girls are willing to pay, because the twins are just so cute and Feliciano is a pro at art.

"When you become famous, I would have a valuable masterpiece!" The girls would joke.

As the weather warms up in the afternoon, they go home for their must-have siesta. It is four when they wake up. Feliciano is back at the table doing his drawing. Lovino is still tired, he goes back to sleep, since he has nothing else to do. Naps just make people more sleepy.

When he wakes up, he gets all the laundry from outside, then he picks out his outfit. Today, he wears a tiny leather jacket, with a tight leopard print shirt underneath. It's another work of Feliciano's. He matches the shirt with a pair of high boots and skin-tight black pants. He poses in front of the mirror, and decides it's his look for the night.

Out of boredom, he watches TV until it's time to go.

"I'm going out," he says to Feliciano.

"I will have dinner ready. I haveto work tomorrow morning, so I need to go to bed early. You will need to warm up your dinner when you get home."

"Okay."

He walks to the club like he did before. His original plan is to go straight to the backstage, but he sees Francis waving at him from a booth, crowded by hotties as usual.

"Little Lovi, come here."

Although he doesn't want to be anywhere near this old pervert, but Francis is still his boss. Lovino sticks his hand in his pocket, swaggering towards Francis with the attitude of a delinquent. "What do you want, scruffy bastard?"

"What's with that face? Not cute at all! I just want to tell you, is it okay to move your shift to after midnight?"

"Midnight?" It's two hours from now. Feliciano would be waiting for him at home. He should have eaten dinner, if he has eaten earlier, the dinner would be digested at midnight. "Why so damn late? Are you just gonna make me wait for two hours, bastard?"

"Just two hours. Time flies. Your dance would heat up the atmosphere of midnight, so please."

Dammit! But he is just an employee, he has to obey his boss. Lovino plops down on the couch, Francis pour a glass of wine for him. Lovino notices the brand of the wine. The only praise-worthy thing about Lovino's boss is that he would generously give Lovino expensive drinks for free.

"Are you bored?" Francis asks.

"Of - fucking - course!" How the hell is he going to kill two hours of time?

"Ah... Let me see..." Francis glances around, seemingly looking for something. "Over there."

Lovino's eyes follow Francis's, he sees Fernandez sitting at the bar. He is chatting with a lady. Lovino remembers when he first encountered Fernandez at the club last night, he had a different woman with him. _Fucking bastard, he probably spends all his spare time hitting on chicks at places like this_. Suddenly Lovino is miffed, because he is jealous, jealous of Fernandez being able to do that. Although Lovino himself wants to flirt with girls, obviously he doesn't have the money to buy them drinks here.

Lovino realises what Francis is doing. Francis calls for a waiter to get Fernandez, Fernandez turns around, and Francis gestures at Lovino. Lovino has this urge to snap Francis's fingers. _Why Fernandez?!_

Seeing Lovino, Fernandez excuses himself from the lady. He goes to their booth and sits down beside Lovino.

"Good evening, Lovino," Fernandez says.

"Not good," was Lovino's reply. He is starving to death.

"Enjoy your time. Big Brother will commence his romantic night with his sweethearts." Francis says and leaves with the girls.

There's nothing to talk about. Lovino suddenly remembers Fernandez's coat. He originally wants to return it, but he forgets when he is out the door. He decides to pretend it never happened, unless Fernandez asks him about it. Good thing Fernandez hasn't said a word about it.

"You look peaked." Fernandez notes.

"I'm fucking starving!"

"Didn't eat dinner?"

"How can I dance with a full stomach, jerk?!"

Fernandez orders a fruit salad. "Have some fruits" is his explanation. _Don't tempt me by putting food right under my nose, bastard!_ Lovino picks up the fork, stabbing half a strawberry. _I_ _didn't want to eat anything._ _B_ _lame it on the bastard_.

Fernandez leaves, he comes back after a while, putting a container of yogurt on the table. He looks at the plate, the food is only half gone, but Lovino has put down his fork already.

"You are not going to eat any more?"

"No!" _This level of temptation is nothing!_ Lovino thinks. There's only a short amount of time till his shift, he can't excersise, so he has to eat as little as he can to maintain his shape. But Fernandez sits down, picks up the fork, and holds a piece of fruit to Lovino's mouth. "Open up," he smiles at Lovino, his smile saying that he accepts no objections.

 _Fucking bastard!_ Lovino curses. The first time meeting Fernandez has taught him just how sly this guy can be. The saying "once bitten, twice shy" just fits so well. Now whenever Fernandez shows a bit of authority, Lovino would have thoughts of retreat. Lovino hesitates, but he opens his mouth anyways to bit down on the piece of fruit.

"Good boy," Fernandez picks up another piece, passing it to Lovino. Fernandez seems to be addicted to feeding him.

"Oi! I can't have too much!"

"Fruits should be alright. Don't starve yourself, open up."

"I can do it myself!" Lovino grabs Fernandez's wrist, trying to snatch the fork with his other hand. Being fed by a man in a position like this is just too creepy. Fernandez looks at Lovino's conflicted expression, then lets go contentedly.

The dinner is pathetic, the only things on the menu that can pass as dinner are the appetizers, but to a hungry person, anything is delicious. Lovino finishes the rest of his food, he puts away his fork. Fernandez passes him the yogurt with a smile. "Drink this, it will help you digest."

Lovino accepts it. He feels strange, it's like someone just babied him. He has to admit that this guy helped him, and that he should thank him... Or no. Lovino remembers Fernandez's reaction last night to his expression of gratitude, it makes him so embarrassed that he wants to punch Fernandez. _H_ _e's a total bastard!_ Fernandez gazes at Lovino, who is sipping the yogurt in silence with his head down. Fernandez doesn't know what Lovino is thinking, but he finds Lovino's expression to be adorable. An image of Lovino with cat ears emerges in his mind again. _W_ _hat a cute kitten. I wonder if he will scratch if I pet him._ He smiles at the thought of how Lovino is like when he is in bouts of harmless rage.

Lovino sees Fernandez's grin out of his peripheral vision. _H_ _e's staring at me with a smile again._ _W_ _hat is he smiling at?_ To be honest, Fernandez has a charming smile. His smile is warm like the sunshine, and his eyes, they are so gentle. Lovino blushes involuntarily. He turns around and glares at Fernandez. "What are you looking at, bastard?"

Fernandez doesn't avert his eyes. "You can look at me, then we are even." he says.

"Go to hell! Who wants to look you, narcissistic bastard?!"

His smile only widens at Lovino's crimson cheeks.

"Well, then just let me look at you."

"Just how much of a shameless asshole are you?!" Lovino's entire face flushes red. He glowers at Fernandez venomously. He can feel the intense heat of his cheeks. _T_ _his is fucking_ _harassment_. Even though Lovino knows that in a place like this, getting harassed is common. But for fuck's sake! This guy is his teacher! However, Fernandez is not aware of his "harassment" to Lovino. It's in his Spanish blood to show unconcealed passion towards something he's interested in. This kitten's surprising innocence makes him extra fun to tease; Fernandez just can't help himself.

When Lovino is on the stage, he amazes everyone in the club once again. He unbuttons his leather jacket, revealing the leopard-print shirt he has on underneath. With just this this tantalizing outfit, he has the unwavering attention of a lot of people already, because not everyone can bring out the sexiness of leopard-print. Majority of people coming into night clubs have sexual fantasies on their minds. When he starts moving, he gains thunderous applause again. Lovino's dances are always saucy, but he has more raunchiness to his dance this time. Maybe his usual naughtiness is not done on purpose, rather, it's his personality reflecting in his dance.

That has become his specialty, the crowd below the stage still goes wild for him. Want an embrace, wants to be embraced, that has became the mantra of the crowd. When Lovino notices some men in the audience giving him lustful looks, he has to control his impulse to run away; he tries his best not to show that.

A customers tells a waiter to pass on the message that he wants to call Lovino over. The waiter can't find Francis, so he asks Fernandez instead, who has just as much authority as Francis, despite being not being as responsible for the club. Fernandez's direct answer is "No".

That cat has caught his interest first. Before he tames this wild cat, nobody else stands a chance.

At the backstage, Lovino receives his tips. He wants to ask when can he leave, but Francis is probably in his own little heaven somewhere impossible to find. He asks Bevis instead. The answer he has gotten was a yes, so he prepares to leave.

He sits down in the lounge room, massaging his leg. Fernandez finds him here. When Lovino sees Fernandez, he is a bit surprised.

"How did you get here?"

"Are you going home?" Ignoring his question, Fernandez asks.

"Yep."

"Let's go. I will go with you."

 _Even if I say no he probably wouldn't listen_ , Lovino thinks, _oh well, if he wants to walk with me, then be it._ However, Fernandez is not walking with Lovino this time. Exiting the club, he tells Lovino to wait on the side of the road while he retrieves his car from the parking lot. When the car stops by Lovino, he recognizes the red sports car as a fairly new Ferrari model. It is the model that Feliciano - who is a Ferrari fan - has drooled over for a while.

"Get in."

Lovino gets onto the passenger side, and they arrive at Lovino's house in a short amount of time. Lovino tells Fernandez to wait for him to retrieve the coat. But Fernandez gets out with him, saying that he will go with Lovino.

Lovino opens the door, feeling along the wall for the light switch. Entering the house and seeing the closed bedroom door, he guesses that Feliciano is asleep. It is Fernandez's second visit to Lovino's place, the house is still a mess as before. Fernandez notices an unfinished painting on the table and the seemingly wet paint in the palette. _He lives with someone?_ As if to verify his prediction, Lovino's movements are gingerly, as if he is afraid that he might wake someone up.

"You're not coming in?" Lovino asks quietly.

"No."

Lovino passes the coat to Fernandez, who takes it. Fernandez asks: "Who do you live with?"

"My little brother."

 _Little brother._ Fernandez puts the coat on, then gives Lovino a soft smile.

"I will be going. Have a good rest, Lovino."

"Hmph." Lovino watches as Fernandez walks down the stairs, then he closes his door. He walks to the window, peeking through the curtain at Fernandez getting into his car. He closes the curtain when Fernandez's car is no longer on his street. _I don't understand what that guy is thinking at all, his constant nosiness and all that._

Feliciano is awake at eight, he needs to use his free time this morning to distribute flyers. Before their graduation, the brothers have to work odd jobs to keep their lives going. After graduation, they would need to think of ways to pay off the enormous sum that is their loan. A large portion of the loan goes to Feliciano's tuition fee at the designer school; the annual pay is approximately twenty thousand euros. Although Feliciano often wins prize money for his excellent work at competitions, but the price money is peanuts comparing to the tuition fee. His tuition fee is lend to him by the school, for his late grandfather was quite a celebrity in the art world. Despite that the headmaster was a dear friend of his grandfather, Feliciano would be sued if he cannot pay off his loan ten years after graduation.

 _Brother is still deep in sleep, he probably got home late._ Melancholy washes over Feliciano as he notices how tired his brother is. His brother deserves the widest and fanciest stage, yet now, he performs in a place like that. He really wants to see Lovino dance, because his brother is the coolest when he is caught in a moment like that.

He can't help but remember the past. When he was little, he did not have a good relationship with his brother. Lovino was a down-right brat, he bullied Feliciano often. It was because everyone favoured Feliciano. Feliciano was obedient, pleasant, and he would help with chores at a young age. He even inherited their grandfather's excellency at art. But blood is thicker than water, no matter how much Lovino is jealous of his brother, he still cares for him.

When their grandfather passed away, the family fell to pieces. Their father got tangled up in mafia business. Their parents divorced, and the brothers went separate ways. Despite living in Rome at that time like his brother, he seldom had the chance to see Lovino. The only times he saw Lovino were when he was performing. Feliciano would be in the audience seat, gazing at Lovino when it's possible that Lovino would never notice him. Even when Lovino finished performing and retreated to backstage, and Feliciano would leave the auditorium, they still wouldn't be able to exchange a word with each other.

Then Lovino went with their father to a sea-side city in the south. Feliciano would occasionally hear their mother talk about him, like when he won another prize, or got the opportunity to perform somewhere. Lovino became a rising star; his future held so many sparkling wonders, waiting for the moment to burst.

But the only one who might have remembered Lovino's former glory is Feliciano. The soot of time would so easily cover the glory of a new talent. When Feliiciano found out that Lovino can no longer dance, he was devastated. Putting himself in his brother's shoes, he would die if someone were ever to cut his hands off.

Two identical faces, but one is a face of permanent smile and display of endless happiness, while that other face is set in a permanent scowl.

He remembers Lovino's smile, when he was on the stage as he finished performing, as the audience was clapping. That smile is his most sincere, his happiest. That is an expression he doesn't show often. Feliciano hasn't seen Lovino smile for such a long time, that Lovino's smile has blurred in his mind. The smile on that boy's face, how would it look like on his matured face? Although Feliciano would smile at the mirror to see, but he'll never find it to be the same as his brother's. His brother doesn't have a smile like his; Lovino's smile would be radiating happiness and his proudness for himself.

 _Ehe, I'm overthinking._

Feliciano gets off the bed soundlessly. He used to be a heavy sleeper who can sleep through a storm, but now, just to suit this lifestyle, he has lost that habit without himself knowing. After his morning routine and watering the flowers on the window sill, he leaves the house.

* * *

 **Translator's note:**

 ***I can't** **find an English equivalent of "花台", which literally translates to flower counter. I think this thing is a flowerbed with a thick border.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed, favorited, followed, and read this story. I really appreciate it :3**

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Lovino is distracted. The landlady came by today to deliver the bill, about the rent and all that. Good thing he gets his paycheck weekly. _W_ _hy is life so annoying, why is that bastard so annoying_. Lovino thinks as he throws an accusing look towards Fernandez. The "innocent" Fernandez senses a wave of resentment coming his way, but he doesn't know the reason is that he has became _someone's_ target of venting, _**again.**_

One hand in his pocket and another holding the book, Fernandez has a smile on his face. His olive eyes are serene, as if they are illuminated by the soft sunshine. Lovino thinks of budding emerald leaves under the sun on a spring day. He feels a flow of comfortable warmth through his body. Lovino stares at him, then turns his eyes away.

The class ends and students are leaving the classroom with their packed bags. Fernandez asks Lovino to stay. Walking towards Lovino's desk, he holds out his hand with a smile.

"Book."

Lovino's heart pounds. _Shit!_ _I_ _'m doomed!_ He clicks his tongue and looks away, slowly passing the book to the man in front of him. Fernandez flips to the page of today's lesson, seeing nothing but the original published content. He puts the book down, staring at Lovino, who is all shifty-eyed and blushing out of nervousness. _He looks like a kitten that knows it has done something bad._

"Do you need me to give you an one-on-one lesson?" Fernandez says as he leans down with one arm on the desk.

"No, bastard," Lovino answers quietly. Fernandez's voice reaches him from above. Being encased by the shadow of Fernandez, Lovino is a bit anxious. All of this class he has other things on his mind, being in no mood for listening to the lesson. He wants to just waste away his time this period, but it seems like this guy has noticed that he was distracted. _If Fernandez is pissed off, I guess I'm screwed._ He turns his eyes a bit towards Fernandez, wanting to peek at Fernandez's expression, but found his eyes glued to the third button of Fernandez's shirt instead.

"Lovino, do you know how to count in Spanish?"

"...Yeah?"

"What's tres-dos-siete-seis-cero?"

"3,2, 7...6, and 0?" _What's this for?_ Lovino gives Fernandez a questioning look. Fernandez doesn't look mad.

"And ocho-siete-cero-dos-uno?"

"8, 7, 0, 2, 1."

"Can you remember that? Repeat the numbers."

"32760…87021?"

"In Spanish."

 _What the hell?!_ Lovino tries to recall the numbers he has just said, while repeating them in Spanish.

"Again."

So Lovino does it again.

"Very good. Do you have it down?"

"What the fuck was that, bastard?"

"My phone number. Call me before you go to work, I'll pick you up."

"WHAT?!" Lovino glares, wide-eyed.

Fernandez straightens himself, giving Lovino a look that basically translates to "I'm not responsible for any consequences if you don't listen to me", then he taps Lovino's book with his finger. "And for homework, translate everything in today's lesson and write it down. For this lesson's vocab, copy each word for two lines. And lastly, memorize this article before the end of next class."

 _Seriously?_ _T_ _hat's so much work! I can't do this!_ Lovino can feel tears welling up. He would thank all the deities if he can read one sentence in Spanish properly. He glares at the smiling person delivering his "death sentence".

"Pay attention in class," Fernandez says. _Demon!_ Lovino glowers at him. _All he does is meddling with others' business!_

"Remember to call me tonight." The bastard reminds Lovino, **again.** _Why the fuck should I listen?!_ Although it seems that Fernandez is all of this doing this for his sake, but he has no reason to care this much.

In a place like Italy where quite a lot of people don't mind playing for the other team, it's not rare to see advertisements for hook-ups with another man in a man's bathroom. If you have a pretty face and all of sudden a man is nice to you, then no matter your gender and sex, he's hitting on you. It's not like Lovino hasn't been hit on by men before, but Fernandez is his teacher. Furthermore, Fernandez has never expressed anything like that to him, nor has he ever made a pass at him. So it's not possible

"Are you fucking _courting_ me?" Lovino asks anyway. His tone is casual, laced with sarcasm. His sole purpose for those words is to mock the other.

"What if I am?" comes Fernandez's reply.

Lovino stiffens, he looks up and meets Fernandez's eyes. His gaze is playful, as if he is expecting something amusing. _H_ _e said that just to mess with me._ Coming to this conclusion, Lovino glares venomously. Fernandez reacts by mussing Lovino's hair.

"Go to hell." Lovino says in a deep voice, slapping Fernandez's hand away and leaves.

Upon returning home, Lovino digs out his Spanish dictionary at the bottom of a pile of stuff on his desk. Opening his book, Lovino skims through the text. He can guess the meaning of some words because of their similarity to Italian, but the words refuse to make sense when they're put in a sentence. The biggest pain in the neck is when he knows the meaning of every single word in a sentence, but the sentence itself is impossible to translate! After fighting his way through two pages and seeing there are still two pages left, Lovino roars internally: _Damned Spanish, damned Fernandez!_ Then Lovino puts down his pen.

In the evening he makes dinner together with Feliciano. Thanks to the change in the schedule for his shift, Lovino has time to enjoy his dinner, so having pasta is a must. When preparing for the pasta he finds that there only two tomatoes left in the fridge, just enough for two servings. But being the tomato lover he is, Lovino doesn't find that to be satisfying. Just as he is about to have a mental breakdown over the tomato crisis, Feliciano says he will give half of his to Lovino.

Just to make sure he can digest his dinner on time, he eats his dinner an hour earlier than usual. It is nine by the time he finishes. After dinner, Feliciano starts to clean the dishes and silverware. Lovino feels tired, because of how late he has been going to sleep for the past two days. He decides to nap for a while, telling Feliciano to wake him if he doesn't get up by ten thirty.

Ten thirty. Feliciano treads into the bedroom, a pot and spoon from the kitchen in his hand. He pokes Lovino with the spoon, calling him a few times. But Lovino just rolls over, waving his hand, then goes back to dreamland with zero intention to wake up. So Feliciano brings the pot close to Lovino's ear and beats the pot frantically with the spoon.

"Big Brother, wake up! Brother, **wake up!** "

"AH!" Lovino wakes with a jump. "WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?!"

"Ve... finally up... It's time to go, Big Brother.

"Okay! Okay! Bastard! Get out, I need to change!"When Feliciano has left the bedroom, Lovino spends some time picking out his clothes, then he washes his face and styles his hair. Sitting down on the couch, he takes out his phone and punches in Fernandez's number, but his finger hovers above the call button. He is not willing to press the button. At the same time, he feels embarrassed to call that man. _Anyways, why should I listen to that asshole?!_

Feliciano sees Lovino's conflicted expression, he asks, "Big Brother, what are you doing?"

"Come here, Feliciano," Lovino calls to Feliciano, who is getting ready to go to sleep. He stops and goes to his brother. "Call this number, and tell the person who picks up to hurry the fuck over." Lovino says as he passes the phone to Feliciano.

"Big Brother, why don't you do it yourself?"

"Just shut up and do it!"

"Ve..." Feliciano dials the number, the phone rings a few times before someone picks up. "Ciao. My brother says, if you have time, please come by..."

"It's 'get your ass over here', not 'please come by'!" Lovino jumps onto Feliciano, grabbing his collar as he shouts in Feliciano's ear.

"You're too loud, Big Brother!" Feliciano accuses with a sob in his voice while holding his ear out of discomfort.

On the other side, Fernandez has a smile spreading involuntarily on his face when he hears the brothers' conversation. He can imagine the cranky expression that's probably on that kitten's face. "Alright, tell him to wait a bit, I'll be there soon." Right now he is reading in his apartment. He hangs up the phone, puts on his coat and leaves his house.

"He says he will be here soon," Feliciano returns the phone to Lovino. Lovino snorts.

"Brother, who was that?" Feliciano asks curiously.

"A bastard, that's who!" Lovino tosses the phone onto the table, leaning into the couch with his arms crossed. From his expression, he seems to be pissed off. _Well, that's Brother's usual face anyways_. Feliciano goes to his bedroom, not minding Lovino.

When Fernandez arrives in his car, Lovino is standing at the bottom of the stairs, arms crossed and impatient. "You're so fucking slow!" Lovino snaps as the man gets out of his car.

"Sorry. From now on, why don't you wait for me at home? I'll call you when I get here."

"Hmph."

He averts Fernandez's gentle eyes.

"Hey Brother! You forgot your phone!" Lovino turns his head at Feliciano's cry. Feliciano is leaning out the window, Lovino's phone in his hand.

"Come down and give it to me."

"Wait, I'll be there soon."

"Put on some clothes!" Feliciano's upper body leaning out the window is bare. Lovino bets that the little shit is completely in his naked glory. Fernandez is surprised at how Feliciano has the exact same face as Lovino. _Twins?_ Anyone would find two siblings with identical faces to be fascinating. Feliciano runs down the stairs, only in an unbuttoned shirt and a pair of boxers.

"Brother!"

"Where the fuck are your pants! How many times have I told you to put on pants first, you little shit!" Lovino grasps Feliciano's shoulder, giving his forehead an aggressive headbutt. Really, Lovino should be glad that Feliciano at least has remembered to put on underwear, because Feliciano has done things like running out in nothing but a shirt when he woke up. Fortunately, there are no strangers around right now.

"Ouch! That hurts!" Felciano passes the phone to Lovino. Fernandez leans on the hood of his car, watching the pair of brothers at a close distance. _They really do have the same face._ Noticing Fernandez, Feliciano greets him with a smile.

"Ciao! I'm Feliciano. Are you a friend of Big Brother's?"

"No!" Lovino answers before Fernandez does.

"Hello. Antonio Fernandez-Carriedo."

"Wow! This car!" Feliciano twirls around Fernandez's car when he notices that it's a model of Ferrari that has been his favourite. "Big Brother Antonio, is this car yours?"

"Yes," Fernandez replies with a laugh. He doesn't mind Lovino's brother calling him by his first name, despite this being their first encounter. That's because Lovino's little brother is also adorable.

"I've always wanted a car like this! It's so cool! Ah-" Lovino kicks Feliciano before he can finish his sentence.

"So cool your ass. Get the fuck back to sleep! Don't you have classes tomorrow morning, bastard?"

"Okay, have a safe trip, Brother." Feliciano waves his sleeves as he says bye, watching his brother getting into Fernandez's car. When the car disappears from his sight, he wanders up the stairs to his room.

 _Fucking little brother, calling this bastard "big brother" like he knows him well._ Lovino thinks sourly as he sits in his seat with his arms folded, despite knowing that Feliciano has always been like this. But Fernandez is in a good mood. _These brothers' personalities are totally different. If Lovino can be honest like his little brother, he will be so much cuter._

Arriving at the club, Lovino goes onto the stage after some warm-ups. Although it is not a weekend evening, there are still a lot of people. Some are here just to see Lovino perform. When Lovino steps onto the stage, he is greeted by non-stopping applauds and excited calls. Under the request of the audience, Lovino dances for a few more songs.

At last Lovino can't take it anymore, he leaves the stage. Sitting in the lounge room, he bits down on his lips, massaging his leg. It's not just his joints that hurt; a little movement of his leg would cause ripple of pain. _Dances like this really kill me_.

"Not feeling well?" Hearing the voice, he looks up. Fernandez is watching him from the doorway. Lovino jumps in surprise.

"I'm just a bit tired," he says hurriedly, averting his eyes. He ignores the pain in his leg, letting his hand fall.

"I will take you home."

"Okay... Lemme rest for a bit."

He doesn't want to stand up now, because walking makes his joints hurt. Fernandez kneels down before him, examining his leg. Then he does something unexpected: he lifts up Lovino's ankle.

"What the fuck are you doing!" Frightened, Lovino wants to get away from his grip. But the struggling has his bones protesting; it is impossible for him to use any real strength. However, Fernandez has never applied any pressure to Lovino's leg. He watches Lovino's reactions, then he turns his eyes to Lovino's shaking leg.

"It hurts?"

"Let go of me!" Lovino says, head bowing low.

"What's wrong?"

"I said let go!" Lovino shouts as his head snaps up, tears shining in his eyes. Fernandez lets go of him. _He's crying._ _I_ _s he angry?_

"It hurts so much!" Lovino massages his joint, wanting to relieve the pain there. And Fernandez has thought wrong. Lovino is simply crying because of the pain.

"Sorry... Did I hurt you?"

"Yes! You did! It's all your fault, asshole!"

Although it's not cute at all that this brat is blaming others for his problems, but with his eyes wide and watery, he's too damn adorable. Fernandez happens to have soft spot for things like this. He wipes the tears from Lovino's eyes with his finger. He doesn't dare to touch Lovino's leg, having no idea what's wrong with it. He musses Lovino's hair gently.

"Good boy, don't cry."

"Go away!" Lovino slaps Fernandez's hand way. _This kitten is going to scratch._ Although Fernandez can easily hold down this kitten's claws to stop his attacks, but it's better if he doesn't do anything to agitate this kitten even further. After all, this kitten has one hell of a temper, very difficult to coax back once angered. Fernandez really wants to know what's wrong with Lovino's leg, but obviously, Lovino doesn't want to tell him.

"Are you mad?" Fernandez watches Lovino's, who has a cranky expression. Lovino doesn't want to see him, so he turns his face away, not saying a word. _Ah... I can do nothing about this._

"Hey, Lovino, you don't have to memorize the text of this lesson. See it as an apology, will you?"

Hearing that, Lovino finds himself brightening a bit. "If I say no, can you cancel all of my homework?" Lovino asks after a short while of silence.

"No. Your listening marks just suck too much."

 _Hmph._ Lovino is still sulking on the inside. He ignores Fernandez. Fernandez sighs, then he stands up and sits down beside Lovino. He produces a pack of cigarette from his pocket, taking one out. As he is going to put the box away, Lovino snatches it from him, also taking a cigarette. Fernandez takes out his lighter to light his own cigarette and then puts the flame to Lovino's. Lovino returns his cigarette box.

It has been a long time since Lovino has last smoked. Not used to it, Lovino starts coughing. Fernandez hurriedly pats his back. The scent of quality tobacco relaxes him. Lovino still misses the scent of tobacco. It has became Lovino's black history that he reason why he quit smoking: he was too poor at that time, he can't afford cigarettes.

The two smoke in silence. After one cigarette burns out, Fernandez asks: "Does it still hurt?"

"It's much better."

"Need me to take you home?"

Lovino gets up, walking towards the door with Fernandez following him. Leaving the night club, Lovino waits with his hands in pocket for Fernandez to retrieve his car. The car appears soon after, he gets into the car. As the engine starts, Lovino peeks at the clock. It's almost two past midnight. _So late._ _I_ _have classes tomorrow nine thirty in the morning._ _W_ _hat a pain in the ass._

"Lovino, is that reason the reason why you're not taking dance classes anymore?" Fernandez is referring to what happened to his leg.

"Yep." Lovino answers, his arms crossed. _Why is he keep on talking about this? Can't he mind his own business for once?_

"From now on, don't stay on stage too long, okay?"

"I need to make money, asshole." If Lovino has a choice, he wouldn't stay for so long. But the longer he stays, the more tips he gets. He has to bare it.

"Stay with me. I'll give you tips."

 _There goes the bastard again._ Lovino grits his teeth. The car stops in front of Lovino's apartment. Lovino gets out of the car, but is called to a stop by Fernandez.

"Lovino."

"What?"

"Goodnight."

"..." Lovino shuts the door and walks towards his house. Fernandez watches him go up the stairs, then speeds away.


	6. Chapter 6

**To answer the question a guest reviewer had: Thanks for correcting the Spanish! As for your question, the author said: Antonio is an university professor. He invested in Francis' bar to help him, but he doesn't really do anything for the bar. Antonio kept his teaching job because he prefers it.**

 **Warning for this chapter: I'm know almost nothing about bars and clubs. A few paragraphs would talk about Lovino's job at the bar, and there are some terms I can't find the English equivalents for. Those paragraphs are worded weirdly, because I translated majority of them word by word.**

* * *

When Lovino hands in his work, Fernandez is smiling as he reads it. Lovino feels uneasy, not knowing the reason of the other man's smile. He knows that he didn't do a good job on his homework, but he has tried his best. Fernandez puts the book down.

"...So?" Lovino asks quietly.

"Yep. You tried, I'm happy."

 _What the hell?_ Lovino mumbles in his mind.

Fernandez marks the parts with mistranslation, and fills them in with the correct ones. Then he tells Lovino to copy each sentence ten times.

"Seriously?!" Lovino exclaims. He gets a headache whenever he sees Spanish. Copying so much things is a downright pain in the ass to him. Fernandez says with a smile, that sometimes, the most basic method is the most effective. And with kids like Lovino, he would only listen when things are done the hard way.

After this, Lovino doesn't dare to get distracted in Fernandez's class ever again. Although he is ticked off that he was forced to listen, but going against Fernandez would be spitting into the wind.

Two weeks has passed. It's so nice that he gets his paycheck weekly, and usually his tips alone are quite a sum. He has heard from other people that if they keep customers' company at the club, he will get even more tips. However, he is not interested in that. He still hasn't recovered from the last time someone got him liquor.

Technically he is still someone's hired drinking buddy, and that someone is Fernandez. Considering his health conditions, Fernandez doesn't let him stay on stage for too long, and Fernandez does keep his words. Lovino found out that even his boss listens to Fernandez. Francis says that nothing can stop Fernandez if he wants something done. So whenever Lovino finishes performing, Fernandez would call him over. And as he has promised, he would tip Lovino for his time.

So Lovino does what he asks. When he gets his tips, the money always come in bills. Although Lovino feels like there's something fishy, he accepts the money anyways. Easy money, no? How much Fernandez wants to give is his own business.

However, Lovino is a lightweight. On more than a few occasions Fernandez has to take him home and piggyback him up the stairs. Fernandez found out that Lovino complains a lot when he is drunk. His topics of complaint are things like "Goddamn Spanish", "Fernandez is a nosy bastard!", and "It's all your fucking fault that I'm stuck working here!". It's not really complaining, rather, Lovino is voicing out things he doesn't dare to say when he is sober. On the following day, the "innocent" Fernandez, crushed by many blames* **(see T/N),** would ask Lovino if he remembers what happened last night. Lovino would just shake his head.

What a lightweight.

With the money he has earned, Lovino and his brothers are having better life. He still has a lot of loan to pay back, but being the hedonistic Italian he is, he would not treat himself poorly when he has the ability to do better.

Saturday morning comes, Feliciano prepares leave for school after breakfast. Lovino is left to clean the dishes, although most of the time cleaning is Feliciano's job, because letting Lovino do it means more cleaning. Breaking dishes happen frequently and easily, or Lovino would overturn a shelf, or spill the detergent or something. Still, Lovino wants to do chores occasionally; he doesn't want to feel like that he is useless.

As Feliciano is packing up, he hears a commotion accompanied by the sound of Lovino's yelp. _Not again_. Although Feliciano is used to things like this happening, he still feels a bit hopeless. He stops what he is doing and goes to the kitchen.

"Brother, what's wrong?"

And there's the scene of Lovino sitting on the floor cupping the back of his head, looking terrified. Judging by his position, it appears like he bumped into the cupboard. Feliciano takes a look at the floor. Thank goodness only his brother fell this time.

"Are you alright?" Feliciano asks as he helps Lovino up. Lovino is on the verge of tears; he has fallen down hard. He stands up and fishes around frantically in the sink, fetching his phone from the dirty water.

 _Jeez, is it a rule that something has to break every time?_ Feliciano thinks. Lovino opens the back of his phone and removes the battery. He dries out the water, then he does it with a blow drier. However the phone declares stubbornly that it is on strike.

 _Fuck!_ He starts to resent whoever called him. When Lovino is doing the dishes, his phone rings. He is going to pick it up, but his hands slipped, and the phone almost went into the sink. He tries to catch it, but he slips on the floor wet with soapy water. He falls, the phone mimicking his movement and landing in the sink. If he is not mistaken, the caller ID read Fernandez's name.

Lovino borrows Feliciano's phone, dialing the number from memory. The moment Fernandez picks up, Lovino starts chewing him out.

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING? Why the hell did you call when I'm washing things? You fucking made me drop my phone into the sink! Such good timing, bastard! And you made me slip, HARD! IT HURTS LIKE HELL! AND IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!"

Fernandez moves the phone a few centimeters away from his ear. He can feel the anger coming from the other side. If he has heard correctly, Lovino sounds like he is about to cry.

"Calm down, Lovino."

"WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU WANT?"

"Um... I wanted to say, if you have time, mind if I take you out on a ride?"

"Hell no!"

With the straightforward rejection, Lovino hangs up. _Fuck, Fernandez made me go through all that just for something so minor?_ He returns the phone to Feliciano, then proceeds to mourn for his own.

"Brother, your hand is injured." Feliciano notes as he stares Lovino's left hand. Lovino lifts his elbow, finding a damn scrape there. He goes to the bathroom to rinse off the blood. Fortunately, the scrape is not deep. His resentment towards Fernandez has gone up a level.

When Feliciano leaves, he takes Lovino's phone with him. He says that he will get it repaired. Lovino goes to change, because slipping on the wet floor got his clothes all soaked.

Shortly after, he hears the doorbell ring. Lovino opens the door. He is in a terrible mood; if it is a salesperson who starts blabbering before he can even open his mouth, or if the guy said three sentences before he can take a good look at him, he would not hesitate to verbally abuse that person.

This seemingly complicated rule is set up after Fernandez's first visit to his house. Before that, if Lovino is in a bad mood, he would start cussing right after the person says "Hello, I would like to..". _"Hello, I would like to know if Lovino Vargas lives here"_ was all Fernandez wanted to say the first time he came by. But before he can get half the sentence out, Lovino一who mistook him for a salesperson一 interrupted him. Lovino got pissed off by him, and started cussing him out. And that was when Lovino learned the meaning of no zuo no die.

When he opens the door, he doesn't hear a voice. Maybe it is not a salesperson after all. Then he looks up and sees the face of the other person. _Oh. My. God._

"Good morning, Lovino." Fernandez greets, his eyes are serene.

"...What are you doing here, bastard?'

"I just want to see that if you are mad," he laughs. The sound is warm like sunshine.

 _How can I not be mad?_ Lovino glares.

"You really don't want to go out with me?"

"No!"

"Fine, how's your phone?"

"It's getting repaired! Thanks for all the trouble, asshole!" Lovino snaps. He doesn't realize that what happened has nothing to do with Fernandez. Rather, his own clumsiness is to blame. But Lovino would never admit that.

"Okay, while your phone is getting repaired, you can use this one." Fernandez takes out a phone, putting it in Lovino's hand. "See it as an apology gift."

Well, he is used to this fractious kitten blaming him for things he hasn't done.

"Hey..." Lovino wants to say no. Would it not be weird if he just accepts something so expensive so casually? Even if he is only borrowing the phone temporarily, it doesn't make sense for him to use something the bastard gives him.

Fernandez seems to have read Lovino's thoughts. "When you go out at night, just contact me with it. It worries me when I can't find you," he explains.

 _This bastard and his constant non-sense._ Lovino looks at him. Fernandez eyes are so gentle, yet so deep. Lovino just can't read him.

All of a sudden, Fernandez arches his eyebrow, wearing a grin that looks like he is teasing some sort of small animal. "By the way, how's your butt?"

"WHAT?!" Lovino squeals, wanting confirm that his brain has not processed the words wrong.

"I thought you said you fell?"

 _This damn bastard did it on purpose!_ Teeth gritted, Lovino glowers at the grinning man. The said man is waiting for a reply, which the flustered boy answers with actions: he slams the door in the man's face.

And Fernandez is not surprised at all. He really enjoys teasing this kitten. _He is so cute when he makes faces like that._ However, Fernandez desires to see if this kitten will ever be meek, or obedient. _What would his expression look like?_ He has to find out. He wants him so much. He must have him.

Lovino's shift ends at midnight. He goes off the stage to find Fernandez, who is with Francis. Good old Francis still can't keep his hands to himself. Lovino hides behind Fernandez, using him as a shield.

"Tomorrow is February 12th, isn't it? It's your birthday." Francis says to Fernandez.

"Really? So fast?"

"Aren't you going to celebrate it?"

"No thanks," Fernandez smiles.

Lovino has heard it all, and decides it doesn't have much to do with him.

Later, Fernandez drives Lovino home. On the car, Fernandez gives a box to Lovino. "Charger, earbuds, extra battery and stuff. I found them at home."

Lovino takes it, because refusing is not possible at this point.

A woman approaches them, she flops down against the car window, a cigarette between her lips.

"Got a fire?" she says to Fernandez.

Lovino sees a short haired woman, who looks like she is a bit tipsy at the moment.

Fernandez takes out his lighter, lighting her cigarette. "Long time no see," he smiles at her.

"Yeah, long time no see." The woman leans against the window, staring at him. "You still remember me."

"Here by yourself?"

"Right now, yeah. I dumped the person who came with me." She takes a puff of her cigarette. Looking at Lovino, she asks Fernandez, "Your boyfriend?"

 _What?!_ Lovino almost shouts, flabbergasted. _What the hell is this woman thinking?_ But it's their conversation, it's none of his business. A misconception like that can be explained by Fernandez, and Fernandez did. "My student, actually."

"Really?" The woman taps her cigarette, ashes falling onto the ground. "Then can you drive me home?"

"Of course. Please get in."

She opens the door, getting into the car. Fernandez turns on the engine.

"Just to make sure, do you actually remember my name, or do you just remember my face?" she says.

"Audrey, we haven't see each other in only a month."

"Oh my, a month. That's a long time. Doesn't it only take one week for you to forget someone you've slept with?" Audrey leans against her seat. She is obviously drunk, judging by her tone.

"How can I? I still remember you."

Lovino peeks at Fernandez. He is smiling like there's nothing wrong in this world. With two people discussing things like this right in front of him, and one of them being his teacher, Lovino is rather calm. He is used to things like this. Fernandez always has a variety of women beside him, he has a lot of lovers.

"Oh, I moved to near Third Plaza."

"Okay. I'll take you there after I drive Lovino home."

"Lovino?" Suddenly, Audrey grabs onto Lovino's seat, leaning forward to take a closer look at him. "No wonder I find you kinda familiar. Lovino Vargas?"

Hearing her words, Lovino turns around to face her. _She knows me?_ But Lovino has no memory of who she is. "You are...?"

"You don't remember me? Seriously, you men are so heartless. You know, I still love you."

 _W_ _hat is she talking about?_ Lovino is puzzled, having no idea of what she is talking about. Is she someone he flirted with before? Did someone actually love him? Not that he can recall any. If someone did love him, he wouldn't have zero experience in the relationship field.

"Just kidding. You are still so innocent." Audrey leans back to her seat.

 _What?_ Lovino doesn't get it. _W_ _hat does she mean?_ _W_ _ho is she?_

"Three years ago you were invited to an event at my company. I was your stylist. Three years has passed, it's not surprising that you don't remember me." Audrey opens the window, flicking her cigarette. "How are you?"

"...Um.." It used be common for him to get invited to social events. Lovino does not remember which company she is from. But the woman has stopped talking, and Lovino doesn't see a reason to strike up a conversation with her. Silence hangs in the car. When the car arrives at Lovino's home, Fernandez wishes him goodnight as usual. He proceeds to drive Audrey home when Lovino has gone up the stairs.

"You seem to know about Lovino," Fernandez asks.

"About his what?"

"What happened to him in the past. I haven't known him for that long... So can you tell me what you know about him?"

"Mhmm... You don't know? Now, lemme think. Where should I start?

"Lovino Vargas... You can say that he was once a celebrity." Audrey recalls; the memories are hazy. "Five years ago he came in second at the most popular dance talent show... I think. He was highly praised; his popularity even surpassed the champion's. He was the most favored, and he was famous for quite a while. I liked this child a lot, so I was a fan of him. Although he has a short fuse, he is actually very sweet, the innocent and adorable kind. That about him didn't change, even if he was in the business. Unfortunately, he was severely injured in a car accident. I heard that his leg got crippled. It was unfortunate."

"Car accident?"

"Dealt as a car accident."

"What do you mean?"

"Rumour has it that it's not simple as that. Apparently his father had some connections with the Mafia. His father wanted to clear those connections, he got people after him because of that. Back then Lovino and his parents were in the car. However, only he survived. That's something fortunate in a tragedy... I guess. If that hasn't happened, the kid would be a celebrity. The heavens seem to be jealous of the talented, no?"

Fernandez returns home after he drops off Audrey. Her words are repeating in his mind. He doesn't know what happened because of his disinterest in the entertainment industry. However he does have some basic knowledge of Lovino's family situation. Because of Lovino's absence during classes and tests, he began to take notice of him. He checked Lovino's family profile, and found that there is no information about his parents. Usually this happens when there are special reasons, like when the a student cuts off their ties with their family, or that they don't have parents. Fernandez also asked other teachers about this. The answer he got is that Lovino lost his parents in an accident.

Sitting down at his desk, Fernandez lights a cigarette. He turns on the computer and opens the browser. Audrey told him that if he is interested, he can do some Internet research. He types in Lovino's name, and there are plenty of information about him, although these information are from a couple of years ago. He skims through them; there are articles about Lovino's performance at competitions, what prizes he won, fan messages, and information on the accident.

Few years ago Lovino was an adolescent with a boyish face. Those clear eyes of his did not change. Just like Audrey said, the Lovino now is ingenuous as always. Fernandez clicks on a few clips of Lovino's dances at contests. Although Lovino was a wide-eyed child, on the lavish stage, he could conquer anyone with the fierce spirit of his dances. Even as Lovino is performing in the nightclub, he still holds that charisma that makes anyone watching incapable of taking their eyes off him. However, what he has now is nothing compared to what he had before.

Fernandez sees a picture of the talent show Audrey mentioned. The picture shows the award ceremony. Lovino is holding a trophy, waving at the audience. Although he did not come in first place, but his smile is still so vivacious. That carefree expression is something Fernandez has never seen on him before; Fernandez assumes that Lovino has always been a surly brat. Fernandez can't help but smile with the youth in the photograph.

There are numerous reports on the car accident two and half years ago. They even unearthed Lovino's family history. Long story short, the Vargas family was once upon a time a prosperous family of business people, but when the patriarch at that time一Lovino's grandfather一passed away, his family fell apart. Lovino's parents didn't seem to have talent in running business, they were even deep in debt.

Lovino's life has not been easy. His family and relatives were not the kindest to him, his father was involved with the Mafia and he failed to take care of Lovino. His father's connections were why the so-called car accident is actually a case of murder.

The rising of a new star takes years of tremendous effort, but the destruction only takes one night. Lovino lost everything in that accident, be it his splendid glamour, his stage in the centre of the world. He lost his parents. He lost his smile.

He has been through so much, yet he still has it all together. What a strong child.

The next day when Lovino leaves his afternoon classes, he remembers that tomorrow is Fernandez's birthday. Fernandez has been kind to him, although their first encounter left Lovino thinking of him as a devil. That image was Lovino's nightmare fuel for quite some time. But once Lovino has gotten to know Fernandez, he has discovered that the guy is not bad. Very kind, actually. _H_ _e would look after me like that, I should at least give him a present for his birthday, as a sign of gratitude or something._

 _B_ _ut what should I give him?_ _J_ _udging by his financial status, I probably can't afford something that he would like._ _H_ _e probably wouldn't need mediocre things either._ After much pondering, Lovino goes to the supermarket to gather materials.

He returns home with the things he bought. He goes to the kitchen. Feliciano sees what he bought, he asks, "Are you making a cake tonight, Big Brother?"

"It's for someone else, dumbass."

"Eh? For who?"

"Mind your own business. Shoo."

"Aww... I thought Brother is cooking tonight." Feliciano is disappointed, because he hasn't tasted Lovino's cooking in a long time. Most of the time it is Feliciano's duty to prepare diner, Lovino's duty to eat. Lovino is no worse than Feliciano in the kitchen. He, too, is capable of creating delicious dishes. It's probably Lovino's only outstanding skill now.

"Is it for Big Brother Antonio?"

"It's his birthday."

"Wow, you guys are on good terms."

"How are your eyes?"

"Huh? But I think you guys really seem to enjoy each others' company."

"No fucking way. Bugger off!"

He starts his making the cake once Feliciano is gone. The cake is round, layered with mousse with diced strawberries. He covers the cake in frosting and arranges some fruits into a pretty order. The finished product is packed into a box.

The time is past midnight, it is February the twelfth. Fernandez drives Lovino home as usual.

"Wait for me, I have something to give you." Lovino says when they arrive at his house. He goes upstairs to retrieve the cake. He hands it to Fernandez through the car window.

"What is this?"

"A cake. I made it myself. H-happy birthday!" Lovino flees once the words are out. Fernandez is stunned for a moment, then the corner of his lips curves up.

Fernandez places the cake on the dinner table when he got home. He opens the box, cutting out a slice. He takes a forkful into his mouth, a smile dancing on his lips.

When Lovino gets out of the shower, he sees an unread message on his phone from Fernandez. "The cake is delicious. Thanks!", it reads.

 _Idiot_. Lovino mutters internally as he climbs onto the bed.

But he cannot deny that those words make him happy.

* * *

 **T/N: *The literal translation is took arrows in the knee.**


	7. Chapter 7

**I forgot to say that the main ships of this fic are Spamano and Gerita on the side. And also, I apologize that I messed up the switch between past and present in this chapter. So to make it clear,** **the parts between ** are recounts of Lovino's past.**

 **TRIGGER WARNING: child neglect and thoughts of suicide.**

* * *

It's a few days until Feliciano goes to Germany. He will be staying there for at least half a year. Despite being the same age, Feliciano is in a grade lower than Lovino. Feliciano will return when he finishes his third year.

All the stuff Feliciano packed is stuffed into a large suitcase. Feliciano has too much baggage, some of it over first is being shipped over first.

Feliciano has started teaching Lovino how to take care of the flowers on the windowsill. It took Feliciano two days of non-stop begging along with a bribe of ice cream to get Lovino say yes to taking care of the flowers. Feliciano is not really confident in his brother's flower care skills, but it is better than nothing. Leaving the flowers to die is just too sad.

In the mornings, Lovino would watch tiredly at how Feliciano takes care of the flowers. He would listen to Feliciano ramble on about how to water it, how much water is needed, and what to watch out for. Meanwhile, Lovino is plotting how to make the flowers' death look like an accident. He is tempted to just push off the pot when no one is below.

The brothers go out for lunch at a restaurant. The sauce on the pasta is made with some kind of secret recipe, and it is delicious. The brothers have studied how the sauce is made, even going as far as trying to make it themselves, but all the attempts are futile. After lunch, they go to an ice cream shop. Satisfied, they return home for a siesta.

"Soon I can't have lunch and take naps with you like this, Big Brother," Feliciano says as he lies in bed, staring at the ceiling.

"Shut up."

"Oh, can you make dinner tonight? I haven't tasted Big Brother's cooking in such a long time."

"Don't wanna. Too much work." Lovino says weakly.

"Eh? How about we make dinner together? I'll help you."

"Then why can't you make it yourself? Stop bugging me and go to sleep, little shit."

"No! I want to eat Big Brother's cooking! Let's make dinner together. Make it together! Together! Together! C'mon, make dinner with me please? Please? Please?" Feliciano turns around and tugs on Lovino's arm.

"Oh my一You're so annoying! Fine, whatever! Now get the fuck to sleep!" Lovino shrugs Feliciano's hand away, and turns his back to him.

"Really! Yay!" Feliciano exclaims in delight.

"I said go to sleep! One more sound I'll punch you in the balls!" Lovino shrieks and that's when Feliciano decides to shut up.

After the nap that lasts for the entire afternoon, the brothers go to the market to gather ingredients. Considering that Lovino still has to work tonight, they start preparing early, at sunset. They plan on to make pizza. Firstly, a dough of flour, eggs, yeast, and olive oil is made and left to rise. Thirty minutes later, after kneading and flattening the dough, it is put into the oven to bake for ten minutes. Taking the crust out, a fork is used to poke holes in it. A layer of tomato sauce, shredded cheese, and other toppings are put onto the crust, which is then baked for another ten minutes. When the wait is over, some vegetables are put onto the almost-finished product and it returns to the oven. Five minutes later, voilà!

The meal is delicious. "Hey, Big Brother, since I'll be going to Germany in three days and I want to remember your cooking, can you make dinner for the next few days?"

"Don't get ahead of yourself, bastard!"

"But..."

"No buts!" Lovino interrupts as soon as he sees Feliciano with those puppy eyes, the look he gives when he is ready to pounce on Lovino and whine. _S_ _eriously, why does he cry so much? Is it really a good idea for him to go to Germany_ _? Will he even be able to take care of himself properly_ _?_ As these thoughts are running through his mind, Lovino does not realize that he, like his brother, is also a crybaby who can't take care of himself.

"Fine, fine. Go clean the kitchen." Lovino says to his brother.

"Ve..." Feliciano gets off his ass and goes to the kitchen.

For the next three days, every evening, Lovino would be in the kitchen and Feliciano would be happily helping him.

On the day Feliciano leaves for Germany, Lovino helps him carry his suitcases and accompanies him to the bus stop. Feliciano is going to school first to meet up with other students going on exchange, then he will go to the airport with them.

That one of the rare days Lovino woke up early. He watches Feliciano check his luggage and water the flowers. Feliciano tells Lovino to be careful when doing chores, and Lovino tells him to take care.

That night, Lovino tip-toes into the house. Then he remembers that he there is no one else home. He turns on the light, staring at the empty living room (it would still be empty at this hour even if Feliciano is here). The feeling of hollowness is stronger than usual. On most days when he returns home, there would always be someone there. Now that someone is gone, Lovino is hit by the forlornness of realizing that he is completely alone. _I_ _miss his stupid face even though he just left._

Lovino is still child-like despite being in an adult in his twenties. He hates to be alone, because it reminds him of those lonely days he spent with his father after his parents' divorce.

*The child Lovino would return home from school, to the cold dinner table with usually no one but himself. Why? Because no one else is home. When night comes, he would turn on all the lights一except the ones in the guest room and his father's room一because he is so scared of the dark. Under the bright illumination, he would fall into an uneasy sleep.

If he woke up to darkness, he would cry. It meant that Father was home and he turned the lights out. Those tears were tears of despair. He was angry and sad, angry and sad at why would Father leave a young child like him home alone all the time! However he kept his tears to himself, because he didn't dare to seek comfort from Father. Tears were signs of weakness in Father's eyes. His family did not like him, because for a child, he was difficult, recalcitrant, and on top of that, useless. This is why he had no shoulder to cry on.

If he woke up with the lights still on 一that occurs more than 300 days out of 365, he would be shaking with fear and sorrow. He would curl up under a blanket, hugging himself tight. Those forlorn nights are a child's nightmare, yet Lovino had known the taste of desolation since he was so young.

He wasn't sure what kept his father so busy back then, but he came to know as he grew older. Back in those days, the person who spent the most time with him was a hired help. She would clean after the mess he made of the house, sometimes she would make food for him. She would watch him dance, and give him some candies as treats.*

He is still afraid of the dark even if he is no longer a child, but he doesn't need the lights to be on to fall asleep by himself any more.

*As he was taking steps towards adulthood, his father gradually started cutting off his ties with the Mafia. He even met up with his mother. His parents had been contacting each other for the past few years, they planned to reconcile.

That day, Lovino and his parents were in the car, on the way to pick Feliciano up from school. They will go to a restaurant together after picking him up. No one thought that they would get into an accident half way to Feliciano's school.

The accident pulled Lovino into the dark oblivion of a long sleep. When he woke up, he was informed that his parents are gone. Forever.

He was freed from darkness, only to discover that there everyone was gone. In his memories, his parents were still there, talking and joking with him.

He opened his eyes to nothing.*

If Feliciano hadn't been safe from the accident, he might have gone insane. He probably would have ended his life soon after.

He starts to hate the darkness again. He hates being alone, hates the house with only himself. He hates waking up from his dreams, only to find loneliness.

All of sudden, he thinks of Fernandez, of his sunshine-like smile, so warm, so buoyant. Lovino feels his heart warm up. An unknown sensation unfurls, Lovino puts a hand to his chest and shakes his head.

He turns on the lamp and fixes the light to a dim setting. Then he rolls around and falls asleep in a cocoon of blankets.

He didn't have a good sleep. With those fears coming back and the stress they cause, he feels like he barely even slept. He woke up numerous times for no reason, then fell back asleep again when he saw that the sky is still dark. This arduous routine is repeated many times through out the night, and it leaves him drained. The dawn is breaking when he last woke up, he feels like he is hungover and his eyes refuse to open. Since his first class is at nine, he thinks he can catch an iota more of sleep.

This time he didn't have any strange dreams. Perhaps it is the light of dawn that brought him away from darkness. He falls into a peaceful sleep. When he wakes up and sees that sun is already high in the sky, he freaks out. He finds his phone and looks at the time. It reads 10: 02. Hastily, he racks his brain for what class he has this morning. Remembering that he has Ms. Eve's class, he lays back down. _D_ _oesn't matter if I miss her class._ _T_ _hat bitch always pick on me._ Lovino absolutely despises her. S _he said Fernandez asked her to check if I go to class._ _I_ _f I ditch, would she tell on me?_ _B_ _ut just this once is not a big deal, right?_

At 11 o'clock, he gets a call from Fernandez. _G_ _ood job, bitch._ Lovino picks up the phone despite the fear in his heart making him want to ignore the call. _H_ _e must be asking for why I ditched!_ _S_ _hould I just tell him that I'm sick?_ The thought pops up the moment Lovino presses the answer button. The thought is quickly dismissed; because the nosy bastard would keep on questioning if he uses the "I'm sick" excuse. His poorly fabricated lie would be busted because of the holes in it. Furthermore, he still has to go to work tonight. It wouldn't be a nice situation to be in if Fernandez catches him lying. However, the moment he hears Fernandez's voice, all the desires to lie dispersed.

Fernandez's tone is placid.

"Good morning, Lovino."

"... Mornin'"

"You weren't in class this morning. Did something happen?"

"Um... I overslept... Accidentally..." Lovino says truthfully after a moment of hesitation.

Silence. Lovino holds his breath. _W_ _hat if he's mad_? However Lovino doesn't know that the silence is caused by Fernandez switching side his phone is on, because his hands are occupied.

"Are you sick?"

"No..."

"Will you come to school later?"

"Of course. I have classes at four."

"Then come to my office. Bring your books, I will tutor you."

"Eh? But it would be seven thirty by the time my classes finish, bastard!"

"I'll wait for you."

He hangs up. Lovino is baffled. _I_ _s he being serious?_

In the evening after he finishes class, Lovino comes to Fernandez's offices as he has been told to do. Fernandez is actually waiting for him. Fernandez is reading when Lovino came in. He puts down his book, and gestures for Lovino to sit down.

"So which chapter are you on?" He asks Lovino, who opens his book and points out the spot.

Fernandez skims through the lesson and he turns to the page with the vocabulary list, which he will teach to Lovino. Lovino's eyes follow the movement of Fernandez's pen, repeating the words Fernandez's pen point to. Whenever he mispronounces something, Fernandez would correct him patiently until he gets it right. Lovino thinks of _that_ hag's pronunciation. Despite being accurate enough, her pronunciation lacks the spirit in that of a full-blooded Spaniard's. By that he means Fernandez's pronunciation doesn't grate on his ears as much. When they are finished with the vocab, Fernandez flips back to the lecture articles and instructs Lovino to read them.

He starts explaining the articles when Lovino finished reading. He tells Lovino where to take notes. Fernandez makes sure that Lovino remembers all the key points, then he proceeds to teach Lovino grammar. Lovino finds the lesson on grammar relatively easier to follow, since grammar is not that difficult and there is not much to explain about.

"These two sections are important. Remember, more often than not you will get tested on them."

"... Okay..." Lovino marks it down.

"Okay, that's all," Fernandez says. Lovino is embarrassed for taking up so much of Fernandez's time, although Fernandez is the one who offered the tutor session. Fernandez tutored him for his sake, Lovino is not enough of an unappreciative prat to be not aware of that. They pack up, seeing that it is already eight thirty and they should eat dinner soon.

As if he has read Lovino's thoughts, Fernandez asks, "Do you want to go out for dinner with me?"

"No."

"Aw... Don't reject so quickly. I've never had dinner with Lovino before."

"And why would I eat with you, jerk?"

"You're not going to thank me after I've spent so much time tutoring you?"

"That was your choice..." Lovino mumbles, "I'll go if it's your treat."

"No problem," Fernandez laughs.

Fernandez drives out of the school ground, while driving, he says that he needs to pick a friend up. The car stops in front of an apartment. Fernandez looks at the time and says that they'll wait here for a few minutes. _S_ _eems like that already got the time to meet up settled._ Lovino is getting impatient, he says that Fernandez can tell the person to hurry up. Fernandez answers with a smile that it's rude to do so. Lovino predicts from Fernandez's reply that they're waiting for a woman.

Moments later, a woman comes down. Fernandez gets out of the car and opens the door for her. Seeing that Fernandez is waiting, she apologizes for taking such a long time.

The woman is really good-looking, it's obvious that she spent time dolling herself up. Even an idiot can tell she is going out on a date. However, she has a pompous air about her. The impression she has on Lovino are only two words: pretty, new. Fernandez is never short of lovers; him being surround by different kinds of women is a common sight. The woman notices Lovino, confused, she asks, "Who is this?"

"My student, Lovino. Lovino, Gwyneth."

"Is he coming with us?" Gwyneth asks.

"He is. Do you mind?"

"No, of course I don't."

 _Well, I do! Why the fuck is he dragging me along if he's going on a damn date?_ Lovino curses. He has no desire at all to be the third wheel. He should find an excuse to leave, however, he has no talent for fabricating stories.

At this time, finding a good restaurant that is not packed becomes a difficult task. Nine o'clock is the usual time for Italians to have dinner. Starting at nine, restaurants are usually packed. Some famous restaurants even have long line ups. Italians' fondness of food is impressive, some people are willing to line up for an hour and do so without a single complaint, just for a meal that would only last for less than an hour. They would just laugh it off as if it is something that's habitual. Some are even willing to go on hour-long drives to the neighbouring city at the most busy hours to get a taste of gourmet.

Fernandez takes them to an upscale restaurant. Lovino looks at the sign; it is a famous place. The restaurant's food, though delicious, come small quantities. Combined with prohibitive prices, most people would think twice about going there. Lovino has been to this restaurant a few times, but that was back when he was "Young Master Lovino".

At the entrance, a waiter greets them with a formal smile. He leads them to their reserved seats and hands out the menu once they're seated. The menu cover is made of glassine paper, decorated with intricate patterns. Lovino opens the menu.

Once upon a time he was capable of ordering without minding the prices, but now, just looking at these numbers make him cringe. Although he is not paying today and two years of him and his little brother having no one but themselves made him thick-skinned, he is not at that level of shamelessness where he would just mooch off blatantly.

Fernandez tells them that they can order whatever they like. Lovino waits for Gwyneth to order. Ladies first is an etiquette any gentleman should follow, although the word etiquette is not something one would associate with Lovino often. Lovino is only polite to women.

As if she has read Lovino's mind, Gwyneth says, "Please go ahead, do not mind me. I have yet to decide."

"No, take your time. I'm in no hurry." Lovino says. Fernandez chuckles at him.

"What are you laughing at, bastard?"

Lovino's coarse language earns him a dirty look from the waiter. Lovino returns the look with the same irritation. "What the hell are you staring for? I will use up all your butter on your vegetables, asshole!"

 _T_ _hen I will throw you out_ , the waiter rolls his eyes, _such crude language to use at an elegant place._ _B_ _e glad that you're in a private room and no one's around._ _I_ _f you think your language doesn't embarrass you, please think of what they do to your friends._ The waiter looks at Fernandez. Usually most people would frown at what just happened, but this mister, he doesn't look even close to mad. Somehow he looks amused. The lady is stunned momentarily, but being well-mannered, she quickly regains her composure.

"Lovino's attitude to women is totally different from his to men. I'm kind of jealous. Hey, Lovino, when will you treat me with a bit more of kindness?" Fernandez says with a chuckle.

 _G_ _o to hell,_ Lovino cusses internally. Gwyneth peeks at Lovino, then at Fernandez's expression. "You really don't need to mind me. You're the guest here." Gwyneth says to Lovino.

 _And she means the she and Fernandez are the hosts_. Looking at Gwyneth's arrogantly aloof expression, Lovino can't help but wonder has Fernandez left out "girl" when he introduced Gwyneth as a "friend".

For the entire duration of the meal Lovino feels uncomfortable. The pair sitting across would chat in whispers, about movies, fashion, or some book. Fernandez's gaze at Gwyneth is tender. It is the very same look that often brings a blush to Lovino's face. _M_ _aybe he is like this with everyone._ _H_ _e would never hesitate when he showers people with affection._ When they are having dessert, Fernandez would cut fruit into little pieces, pick out the pit and put it on the plate for Gwyneth. Of course Lovino has received the same treatment, but it makes Lovino feel like he is the unneeded extra one.

Being the third wheel sucks ass.

"Lovino, is this really enough?" Fernandez asks. He is watching Lovino with a concerned expression. Lovino hasn't ordered much, that's because he had dinner a little later than usual today. He still need to perform later, so he can only eat so much.

"Yeah." Lovino grumbles.

When they finished, while Fernandez is at the counter paying, Gwyneth sidles up to Lovino. "Are you really his student?" she asks.

"Yeah, what about it?"

"Um... You don't seem like it?" Gwyneth says. She is honestly curious about why Fernandez doesn't mind Lovino's disrespectful attitude towards him.

"I wish I'm not his student. But dammit that's the fucking relationship! I mean, I hate to admit that this kind of bastard is my teacher."

Gwyneth gives him a look that makes his stomach churn.

"Sir, I really think that you should watch your language. If you're really his student, don't you think you're giving Antonio a bad name by speaking of him this way, in public?"

 _This cocky woman. W_ _hat does this have to do with her?_ She might be Fernandez's girlfriend, but the last thing Lovino needs is a lecture from her. If she's not a woman, Lovino would have lashed out at her a long time ago. But Lovino is generous towards ladies, he chooses to stay silent.

"Excuse my bluntness, are you from the south?"

"Yeah, I've lived there before."

Gwyneth has that "I see" look. "I heard that people from the South are not so sophisticated. But you know, since you're in northern Italy..."

"So it makes you sophisticated to judge someone you've only met for the first time? I think I'm fine the way I am, and my bastard of a teacher thinks so, too." Lovino is at his patience's end. People from the North have always looked down on Southerners. In the past, Lovino got comments like "Why would you be going _there?_ " when he tells them he would go to a city in South Italy. _O_ _bviously this woman holds the same kind of prejudice, but why am I her target of regionalism?_ The woman's haughty expression is getting under his skin. Lovino may like women, but that doesn't mean that his tolerance is limitless. Suddenly he remembers something. "Lemme check, are you his girlfriend? But you weren't the one he took home last night." Lovino says menacingly.

Her expression darkens at those words. "No, I am in no such relationship with him." she says.

"Well, then I think you should mind your own business."

Fernandez comes over and sees the two together. "What are you guys talking about?" He asks.

Lovino does not answer his question. "Take me home!" Lovino turns around and snaps. The woman is getting on his nerves _._

Gwyneth throws Lovino a sideways look. "Sorry, but Antonio and I have some other businesses to attend to..."

"Then let's get in the car," Fernandez has somehow sensed that there's something wrong between them, but he does not know why. "I'll drive you home first so you can get changed." Fernandez says to Lovino.

In the car, he notices that there's something off about Lovino.

"What's wrong? You've been awfully quiet. Are you feeling sick?"

"No." Lovino says and crosses his arms.

"But you look like you're not feeling well."

"Shut it! I told you I'm fine! Did you not fucking hear me?" Lovino snarls.

"You're angry?" Fernandez asks. He doesn't know why Lovino is so vexed all of a sudden.

Lovino realizes that he has overreacted. He grumbles.

"Seriously, what's wrong?"

"It's all your fucking fault! Why the fuck would you bring me if you're going on a date?! Are you fucking mental?" His dirty vocabulary brings a frown to Gwyneth's forehead.

"I'm sorry, but I really want to go out for dinner with you." Fernandez chuckles.

Lovino's heart skips a beat, although he knows that Fernandez can sweet talk as easily as he can breathe, and Fernandez is the type that does not consider what reactions his words can cause.

The car arrives at Lovino's house. "Call me before you leave. I'll pick you up." Fernandez says.

Seeing Gwyneth's irked expression, Lovino adds, "I sure will."

It strikes Fernandez as strange that Lovino said yes without the usual snarkiness. Before he can question further, Lovino turns away and leaves.


	8. Chapter 8

**For this chapter, I had some trouble editing as I noticed some problems with the format. In the original text, the transitions between scenes and POV are very smooth** **, but somehow, I managed to mess that up. Does anyone else find the transitions weird? Sorry for taking so long OTZ.**

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But when Lovino calls Fernandez...

"Sorry, Lovino. I'm busy at the moment... Can you go there by yourself?"

 _W_ _hat the fuck are you doing then?_ And Lovino, who wants to cuss Fernandez, hears the voice of a woman before he can even open his mouth.

"Darling, faster..." The woman says with a moan. Her voice sounds really close, as if she has her head on Fernandez's shoulder.

 _G_ _o to hell!_ Lovino hangs up and smashes his phone against the bed. It doesn't take a genius to figure out what that asshole is doing.

Lovino goes to the bar by himself. He still doesn't see Fernandez by the time he finishes performing, he runs into Francis instead.

"Come here, Little Lovi, come." The pervert is very touchy-feely as usual. Lovino eyes him, then turns away without a second thought. Immediately, Francis starts sobbing as if he has been wounded. "Such a mean child! How you break Big Brother's heart!"

 _I_ _s he not coming tonight?_ Lovino feels around in his pocket for his phone, wanting to check if the bastard has phoned him or something. But when he finds his pocket to be empty, he remembers that he has left his phone at home. Wandering around the bar, he is exasperated, and all of a sudden he wants a drink. _M_ _aybe I should go find Francis and make him treat me to a glass or two._ _B_ _ut he will probably use that as an excuse to feel me up._ He dismisses the idea at the thought of being groped by Francis.

After a walk around the bar, he suddenly remembers that he has finished working, so why not just go home? _I_ _look like I_ _'_ _m waiting for someone._ Lovino knows that he wants a certain _someone_ to turn up, but he doesn't want to admit it.

Outside of the bar, the weather is cool. He misses the heat of a car's air conditioner, and _that_ bastard's coat. When a familiar warmth is gone, the heart turns hollow and stone cold.

It starts to rain, he has no choice but to take shelter under the roof of a closed shop. The bone-chilling wind bites at his skin, he starts stomping his feet in irritation, in the hope that doing this can warm him up a bit. The rain shows no sign of slowing or stopping, it would suck to be stuck waiting here. He wishes there is at least a taxi, but it is so late and on top of that raining, he sees no car pass by.

 _D_ _amn it all_! He still forgets to bring an umbrella although he _knew_ that the weather would be bad. Now all he can do is wait helplessly for the rain to lighten, and who knows how long that will take.

His feet feel sore after a while of standing. Slowly, he eases himself into a squatting position against the wall. He curses this fucking weather. Cold, damp days like this only worsen the situation of his leg wound. He plans to prepare himself for the worst—walking home in the rain if he really has no other options.

 _What is that bastard doing? He's probably having one hell of a time with that woman._ Comparing the difference between their situations, Lovino suddenly thinks of himself as miserable, and his current situation is all that bastard's fault. Lovino hugs his knees and buries his head between them. _C_ _ome and find me, you jerk!_ He says in his mind.

Fernandez has tried to reach Lovino ever since he has finished his business. He wants to tell Lovino to wait for him to drive him home. However Lovino never picked up. Arriving at the bar, he doesn't see Lovino there either. He hunts Francis down, who is being smothered by a crowd of women, and questions him about Lovino.

"Oh, Little Lovino? I think he went home."

"When did he leave?"

"Quite a while ago. You abandoned cute little Lovino tonight... I thought you guys had a fight."

Fernandez sits down and Francis pours him a glass of wine. He takes a sip.

"I broke my promise. He is probably very mad right now. And no, we didn't have fight, but he isn't answering my calls."

"Huh, you still didn't manage to get into his pants? Let's see, you've got your eyes on him for a quite a while. It's very rare to see you obsess over someone for this long."

Fernandez is notorious for his fleeting passion, which seems to be very common trait among Spaniards. His infatuation for a same person never lasts for long.

"But I totally understand how you feel! Little Lovi is so cute! If it were me, I would have *censor* him a long time ago. To tell you the truth, Little Lovi's *censor* and *censor* have always been on Big Brother's mind. His expression when he *censor* must be really cute..." Francis prattles, indulging in his own fantasies. Fernandez clamps a hand down on Francis' shoulder and regards him with a frigid smile.

"Francis, even if it were you, I'll *censor* off your *beep* if you dare to have lewd thoughts about Lovino again!"

"Hey! You're are going too far!" Francis shoots him a dirty look. "Honestly, you never thought about doing that with him? You seriously don't want to? But Little Lovino is so adorable, there's no way you don't want to! Hey!"

How can he not? He _yearns_ for Lovino to be his. But cats are rebellious creatures. Even to their owners, they run away or bite and scratch when they are forced into a corner. Taking this slow is his only way. Fernandez ignores Francis and gets up to go to the bathroom.

From the bathroom window, he hears the sound of rain and feels the cold wind seeping through. _I_ _s it raining?_ _H_ _as Lovino gotten home already?_ He recalls Francis saying Lovino left a while ago, so he probably should be home by now.

Fernandez takes out his phone and calls Lovino, but again, no one picks up. Fernandez sighs. _I_ _s he not picking up on purpose, or is he asleep?_ Fernandez wishes that it is the latter, he hopes that Lovino has gotten home safely.

Lovino is still waiting. Occasionally, he is splattered by raindrops carried by the wind. He starts sneezing. He thinks he is starting to catch a cold.

He doesn't carry out his plan of running home in the rain. The street lamps are brightly lit, he can see every raindrop of the deluge, and the bubbles formed by rain splashing against the ground. Running in this heavy rain will only make him unable to open his eyes. Nights like this are dangerous, all he can do is wait. He sits down on the ground and pats his knees. Ever since it started to rain, the pain from his knees have been tormenting him. He just wants to curse this lucky night.

 _I_ _t_ _'_ _s all that bastard_ _'_ _s fault for ditching me!_ _I_ _don_ _'_ _t want to talk to him ever again._

A while later, he stands up and leans against the wall to stretch his leg. The rain seems to have lightened, or that might be just his imagination. _W_ _hatever._ He doesn't want to stay here a second longer. He'd rather walk home in the rain, since running in the rain would be dangerous. All he wants now is a warm shower and sleep.

Just now, a car turns in his direction, the piercing brightness of the headlight forcing him to look away and shield his eyes. He hears the engine slow and the car stopping in front of him. He uncovers his eyes, and what a surprise.

Fernandez gets out from the car and runs towards him. He takes off his coat and covers Lovino with it, putting his arm around Lovino as they dash into the downpour.

"Get in."

Lovino gets into the car. He shivers from being soaked by the rain, and he starts sneezing. Fernandez turns on the heat, throwing his drenched jacket onto the backseat.

"Are you alright, Lovino?"

"I'm fine... Why are you here, bastard?" Lovino says, but _you_ _'_ _ve finally came_ is what he has on his mind. He feels like he has been rescued. At this moment, he finally realizes how much longing his heart holds.

"Francis said you went home. I called you, but you didn't pick up. I just can't stop worrying, so I planned to go to your house."

"My phone's at home," Lovino whispers. Fernandez's words kindle a fire in his heart. From his chest, the flames spread through his body, slowly warming everything in their wake.

"Why did you go home alone? You should have waited for me."

"And who the fuck knows that you will actually come? I thought you're spending the night with that woman."

"It's so late, I would not just leave you like that. You should have faith in me."

Lovino looks down. His face is flushing from hearing those words. How Fernandez can say things that sound like love declarations so casually is beyond Lovino. _I_ _s he teasing me again?_ Lovino peeks at Fernandez, but there is no smile on Fernandez's face. He seems to be serious.

They are almost at Lovino's house. Before Lovino gets out of the car, Fernandez reminds him to take some medicine, because he seems sick.

"I know," Lovino says, then he sneezes again.

"Well, goodnight," Fernandez smiles. Lovino opens the door and sprints inside the building. Upon arriving home, the first thing Lovino does is take a hot shower. He dries his hair and digs out some medicine to take before he goes to bed. Lying down, he feels something hard underneath him. It is his phone. He unlocks it, seeing more than ten missed calls, and all are from Fernandez.

This night too, Lovino has not slept well. Probably it's because of the cold, his temperature is unstable during the night, he feels cold one minute and hot the next. His head spins every time he wakes up. His throat is parched. Battling the ache, he gets up to pour himself a glass of water. Walking is difficult for his exhausted body, and the glass of water feels as if it weighs a thousand pounds. He plummets right into his nest of blankets after finishing the glass of water. He rolls around before finding a comfortable position, drifting into an uneasy sleep.

He is plagued by countless twisted dreams. The dreams dance grotesquely like a horde of menacing clowns in a dark backdrop. His mind is in a chaotic state, it unsettles him. At last, Fernandez appears in Lovino's dream, standing on the edge of darkness. He gives Lovino a warm smile. Rays of light descend from behind him, carrying warmth, or is Fernandez's smile that's warming him up? His smile is so ethereal. The golden sunshine of his gaze chases away the darkness gradually, illuminating the scene like the light of day. Lovino opens his eyes slowly. He wakes up, discovering that the sun is already high in the sky.

Lovino sits in the classroom. How he got here, he does not remember. He is shivering and his head feels heavy, although he has taken some pills earlier in the morning. He thinks that before he can get used to living alone, his life will be ruined by erratic sleeping habits.

By the time period two rolls around, Lovino is collapsed on his table. He is _dying_. He sees Fernandez looking at him, but Lovino doesn't have the energy to worry about if Fernandez will be mad. Lovino closes his eyes, and moments later, he falls asleep groggily.

The students around Lovino hold their breaths, all thinking: that person dares to fall so openly in Mr. Fernandez's class, doesn't he know about Mr. Fernandez's wrath? Fernandez is known for being creative with tormenting his students.

Anna elbows Lovino in the hope that he will wake up, but Lovino gives no response. The students see Fernandez looking Lovino's way. As they are worrying for Lovino's fate, Fernandez looks away and continues the lecture as if he saw nothing.

The class ends, everyone packs their bag and hurry out of the classroom, those around Lovino particularly faster than the others, because they see Mr. Fernandez making his way towards them and stopping at Lovino's desk. Lovino is still sleeping like a log. _Amen, may God be with you_ , is the inner prayer of the students to Lovino.

Fernandez gazes at Lovino's sleeping face. Lovino's face is red, his eyes are tightly clinched, as if he is in pain. Fernandez places a hand on Lovino's forehead. The intense heat emitting from Lovino's forehead makes Fernandez frown.

"Lovino..." Fernandez shakes Lovino's shoulder until the boy shows signs of waking up. The boy opens his eyes and casts him a befuddled look. It takes Lovino a while to recall where he is and what he is doing. He sits up, discovering that without the support of his arms, his head hurts. There is also the uncontrollable urge to lie back down.

 _This sucks_. Realizing that he fell asleep in a classroom, Lovino attempts to explain to Fernandez, "I didn't sleep well last night... Oh damn..." He says feebly.

"Lovino," _He_ _'_ _s like this because he didn_ _'_ _t sleep well?_ Fernandez leans down with his hand on the desk to examine Lovino. "You have a fever. Your forehead is burning."

Lovino touches his forehead upon hearing Fernandez's words, then he lets his hand drop. He is going to lie back down on the desk when Fernandez stops him.

"Don't sleep here. I'll take you to the hospital."

He helps Lovino stand up. After just taking a few steps, Lovino slumps against a desk, looking like he is about to collapse the next second. Fernandez shifts Lovino onto his back.

It takes them fifteen minutes of walking to arrive at the school hospital. Fernandez takes Lovino to a doctor. The doctor measures Lovino's temperature, 39°C. Lovino is then put on IV.

Looking at the time, Fernandez sees that he has a class soon. "Is your brother free right now? Can you contact him?" Fernandez asks.

"He's abroad..." Lovino says faintly.

Fernandez tenses. _He has no one to take care of him_. "I need to get to class soon, are you alright by yourself?"

Lovino nods, he is too tired to speak.

"Call me if you need anything. I will come back later. If I'm still not back by the time the transfusion finishes, wait for me here, okay?"

Lovino nods again, but he has not grasped what Fernandez said. Everything he hears or sees becomes muddled when his brain try to process them. Fernandez is still worried, so he explains the situation to a doctor. Before leaving in a hurry, he asks the doctor to look after Lovino.

Lovino is on a bed with an IV connecting to him. He is frail. Although he has barely eaten anything for breakfast and lunch, he wants to hurl. To stop the nausea from spreading, he puts himself to sleep. When he wakes up again, he is on his third bottle of IV fluid. There is only three bottles in total, so it is the last one. The doctor seems to have changed the bottle for him. Lovino looks to the clock hanging on the wall. More than an hour has passed. He dozes off, feeling better because the medication starts to take effect.

Even after receiving the injection, he is still lightheaded. He almost falls when he is getting up from the bed.

"You may rest longer. Your teacher told you to wait for him here." The doctor reminds him as Lovino puts on his shoes.

Lovino contemplates, it seems like Fernandez did tell him that. He lies back down. Due to the aftereffect of the injected content, his body starts to heat up. He kicks the blanket away and falls asleep.

When Fernandez arrives, he sees Lovino asleep, huddled into a ball because of the cold. Fernandez wakes him up.

"Lovino, why did you fall asleep like this? You should get a blanket!"

"It's so hot, bastard... Oh wait... it's kinda cold," Lovino says as he rubs his sleep-crusted eyes.

Fernandez feels helpless at Lovino's inability to look after himself. Once again, Fernandez hands his coat to Lovino. He will worsen his sickness if he walks out like that. With some prescribed medicine in hand, Fernandez walks out of the hospital with Lovino using him as support. All of a sudden, Lovino starts to vomit, seemingly a result of the chill prior.

Fernandez takes Lovino to his car, the boy soon falling asleep against the seat. Fernandez adjusts Lovino's seat to recline more before starting the engine. He drives to his own house instead of Lovino's. How can he leave Lovino alone when he is incapacitated and unable to look after himself?

They arrive at the destination. Fernandez carries Lovino out of the car on his back.

"Where is this?" Lovino opens his eyes and sees that he has never been to this place before.

"My house," Fernandez places him down on the bed, helps him take off his shoes and coat before putting a blanket on him.

"... Why did you take me to your house, bastard?"

"You can't take of yourself on your own, so let me do it for some time."

Feeling cold, Lovino rolls around and curls into a ball under the blanket. Fernandez goes to the kitchen to get him a glass of hot water for feeding medicine to Lovino. Then Fernandez takes his temperature. Lovino's temperature does not cool down, it has done the opposite. His temperature has raised by 0.3 degrees. Lovino's sickness worsened, it's probably because he got cold after getting the injection.

"Lovino, even if you feel hot, you cannot kick your blanket away." Fernandez says, but he is not sure if Lovino hears him, because his eyes are closed and he seems to be asleep. Every now and then, Fernandez goes in the bedroom to check on Lovino. He observes that Lovino is indeed sound asleep. Relieved, Fernandez goes off to focus on his own things.


	9. Chapter 9

**Credits to the Hetalia Wikia for the translation of Italy's song to Germany.**

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When Lovino opens his eyes, it is dark in the room, he assumes outside is dark as well. He is hungry and his mouth is dry, all of the small quantity of food he had earlier has been thrown up. Regardless of appetite, or the lack thereof, he is at the point where he has to ingest something. Lovino takes out his phone to check the time, it is a bit past eight.

He gets off the bed, puts on a sweater, and opens the door. The house is vast and pitch-black. Lovino takes out his phone and uses it as a flashlight. Hearing the sound of water running, he follows the sound, discovering that the bathroom lights are on. Judging by the sound, someone is using the shower. Lovino explores his way to the living room and sits down on the couch, waiting for Fernandez to come out from the bathroom. Lovino bows his head, heavy from the long sleep.

Some times later, Fernandez steps out of the bathroom, drying droplets of water clinging to his hair with a towel.

"Hey..."

As he walks to the living room, he hears Lovino calling him. Turning on the light, he sees Lovino sitting on the couch. The abrupt brightness makes Lovino narrow his eyes. Lovino's cheeks flame up when he catches the sight of Fernandez's body. He quickly averts his eyes, because the only thing Fernandez has on is a towel. But the image he sees in the short moment before he turns his head away is etched into his mind. Fernandez is well-built, with chiseled muscles possessing a beauty that is not overwhelming. Oblivious to what is going in Lovino's mind, Fernandez makes his away to Lovino and puts a blanket on him.

"You're awake. Are you feeling better?"

"I want water." Lovino's voice is lethargic. Fernandez pours him a glass of water. "I'm hungry, jerk," Lovino says after he gulped the water down in one breath.

"Would you like to eat something?"

"... Pasta..."

That is something Fernandez's house doesn't have. He fetches the phone from the table and orders a takeout. "Your pasta will be here soon, just wait for a few minutes."

"Get fucking dressed first... Don't parade around like this in front of me, bastard!" Lovino mumbles, because he doesn't have the energy to speak louder. Thank god his cheeks are tinged red from the fever, hiding that he is blushing right now. However, his bashful expression is open for Fernandez to see. Fernandez smiles and retreats to his room to get dressed.

Properly dressed, Fernandez comes out from his bedroom and sits down beside Lovino. He puts a hand to Lovino's forehead, finding that he is still hot from the fever.

Lovino remembers that he should call the bar to say that he is taking the day off, considering that he is in no condition to work.

"Hey... Are you going to the bar later?" He asks Fernandez.

"No."

"Why? Don't you go to places like that every night?"

"I have to take care of you." _Silly boy_.

"No! All I have to do is sleep! I'm fine on my own!"

 _That is if you are not a restless sleeper, then I don_ _'_ _t have to worry about you getting cold while you sleep._ Fernandez's mind supplies as he watches Lovino.

"What do I do? I need to call to take the day off, but I don't wanna talk to that old perv..."

"Don't worry, I'll tell him."

Lovino feels assured at Fernandez's words. A while later, the takeout arrives. Fernandez has ordered spaghetti for him. Before Lovino can finish one third of the meal, he puts down his fork and returns to bed. The sauce makes him nauseous, he blames his sickness for messing around with his tastebuds.

Around eleven o'clock, Fernandez wakes him up to give him the medicine and take his temperature. The temperature has not decreased. Lovino is about to hurl again, Fernandez quickly grabs the trashbin for him. Lovino empties his stomach of all its contents until he is dry heaving. Tears well up in his eyes at the feeling of wanting to throw up when there is nothing left in his stomach. Fernandez pats his back tenderly.

Fernandez takes away the trashcan and brings a bottle of water and a bin for Lovino to rinse his mouth. Then he passes some napkins to Lovino to dry his tears.

Lovino is too sick, Fernandez's frown never eased. He helps Lovino lie down and tucks him in. He takes out the bin, and returns moments later with a book. Turning off the lights, Fernandez turns on the desk lamp and sits down in front of the desk.

"Lovino, I'll be here. Tell me when you don't feel well."

Through half open eyes, Lovino sees Fernandez's back bathed in orange lamp light. A surge of warm courses through him, he feels himself relax, and he shuts his eyes again.

Fernandez glances to the clock as he is almost at the end of the book. Maybe he should go to bed as well. He goes over to the bed, Lovino is still pale; his brows are furrowed in pain. At least he is sound asleep and breathing evenly. Fernandez removes his clothes and retrieves a blanket from the living room, then he lies down beside Lovino.

At night, Lovino starts thrashing and kicking off his blanket. Fernandez, lying beside Lovino, has received a few kicks. He gets up and pulls the blanket back on Lovino, only to have Lovino to kick it off again moments later. Fernandez cannot sleep, but the whole purpose of being close to Lovino is to look after him. Patiently, he tucks Lovino in again and again.

It starts to rain sometime past midnight. Lovino is probably feeling cold; he tosses in his blanket, clutching it tight. He turns towards Fernandez and rests his head on Fernandez's shoulder. Subconsciously, he snuggles closer to Fernandez. Looking at the shivering bundle, Fernandez contemplates and gets under the blanket. He presses Lovino close to his chest. He does so gently because he is afraid that Lovino will wake up, and punch him square in the face for putting him in this position.

In truth, Lovino wakes up whenever he feels someone pull the blanket back up for him. He is aware that the person tucking him in over and over is Fernandez. But every time he wakes up, he falls back asleep almost immediately because his head feels heavy and his thoughts are a muddled mess. However, he does not know the time, nor is he aware of the presence of Fernandez sleeping beside him. Instinctively, he snuggles himself closer to the source of warmth when he feels cold.

Later, Lovino dreams of his body heating up. He dreams of someone enveloping him in a warm hug. The radiating heat lures him to nestle himself deeper into the embrace, but he does not return the hug. He wakes up to a wave of regret, accompanied by the light of dawn and the emptiness of the other side of bed.

 _What a strange dream_ , Lovino wonders, _b_ _ut the warmth was so real._ Following the thought immediately, the tides of regret climbed higher. _I want to embrace that warmth, I want to embrace that warm_. He runs a hand over the left side of his chest to calm his pounding heart before he sits up.

Fernandez has left a note on the nightstand. _There is food on the table if you get hungry, and your medicine is there too. Don't forget to take your medicine. I have already called the school for you, so just rest well. Call me immediately if anything is wrong. When I get back at noon, I will take you to the hospital,_ Fernandez writes.

Lovino eats breakfast and takes his medicine as instructed. Lovino feels his forehead; still scorching hot. He wanders around Fernandez's apartment. Fernandez's house is quite large. The walls are decorated with paintings. Lovino discovers Fernandez's study and walks in. Books of many kinds are filed orderly on the bookshelf. Lovino simply takes a look, but he keeps his hands away from them. He has faith in his gift of giving anything he touches a thirty percent chance of toppling over.

He exits the study and heads to the kitchen. The kitchen is spacious, neat, and well-organized. Everything one would want in a kitchen is there; but all these gadgets appear like they have hardly ever been touched. _What a shame._ _Feliciano would be so happy if he gets to cook in a place like this_.

Fernandez's bedroom door is ajar. Lovino peeks in. There is nothing special about it: a large bed, a desk, a wardrobe, a nightstand, and other ordinary things. What stands out to Lovino is a guitar by the wall.

Out of boredom, he returns to the living room and lies down on the couch. _What is Feliciano doing now?_

In Germany, Feliciano is working in the library close to his university. The apron-clad boy is inspecting the shelves and arranging the books from his basket. A hard-cover book almost falls out as Feliciano strains his feet to reach for it. He fumbles to catch it, but he cannot push the the book back to its place no matter how hard he tries. Just as he is about to give up, someone walks up behind him and sets the book in place.

Feliciano turns around. Standing behind him is a muscular man with pale blonde hair combed back immaculately. The stern expression on his handsome features is bordering frightening. He looks imposing in his pristine uniform; anyone standing beside a man like this would feel crushed by his aura. However, if you look closely, you would see a hint of smile in his blue eyes.

"Luddy! You're here!" Feliciano whispers. He turns around with a giggle and hugs him.

"Yes."

"Let's go out for lunch."

"Alright."

With the basket in his arms, Feliciano walks towards the lobby of the library with a bounce in his steps. _Oh, I forgot to tell Big Brother about this,_ Feliciano takes out his phone, _I got to send him an email._

Hello, Big Brother, how are you? Me, I'm good. I made a new friend! He's very interesting, I really like him! Germany is a great place, but the girls are a bit rugged, it terrified me!

-Feliciano

 _Are you an idiot_ are the four words that pops up in Lovino's mind after reading the mail. _Your brother is sick as fuck, and you are fucking having a great time in Germany?_ But Lovino does not write that. Dumb little brother is doing well in Germany, nothing is wrong about it.

In the afternoon, Fernandez takes Lovino to the hospital. His fever has cooled down considerably after an injection. Fernandez drives Lovino to the apartment. He drops Lovino off at the front while he goes to park his car in the underground parking lot. It is still raining, Lovino opens his umbrella as he gets out of the car.

After Fernandez drives away, Lovino hears something as he is walking. He turns around. In the corner of a wall not far away, a beige striped tabby is curled under a pile of old cardboard. It appears to be a stray cat.

Lovino walks to it with his umbrella in hand. The cat dives under the pile of cardboard when it sees Lovino approaching. Obviously the nest of cardboard is too small, as half of the cat's head is not covered by the cardboard and its fur is soaked with rainwater. Lovino bends down and observes it, then he puts his umbrella over the cat, shielding it from the rain.

Lovino, now without his umbrella, bolts back to the apartment.

He stops under the roof to wait for Fernandez. Moments later, the man arrives.

Seeing Lovino's soaked clothes, he asks, "Why are your clothes wet? Where did your umbrella go?"

Lovino does not speak; he looks pointedly to a spot behind Fernandez's back. Fernandez turns around and sees the cat. It sidles out from underneath the cardboard, settling itself under Lovino's umbrella. The cat returns their stares.

"Lovino, you are still sick."

"Poor little thing..."

"You could have waited for me to give my umbrella to it." Fernandez ruffles Lovino's hair. "Shall we go?"

Upon returning to the apartment, Fernandez hassles Lovino to change out of his wet clothes. Fernandez goes into the kitchen to prepare Lovino dinner. Lovino's sole requirement for the meal is pasta.

I'd rather starve to death than eat something disgusting, so don't do anything if you can't cook, says Lovino.

Fernandez is rather confident in his own culinary skills.

While Fernandez is busy in the kitchen, Lovino slouches on the couch with his legs crossed, reading mails from Feliciano. Feliciano keeps rambling about a German guy named Ludwig. He even sends Lovino photos he sneaked of Ludwig, because Ludwig doesn't allow Feliciano to take photos of him. Feliciano says he feels safe around Ludwig, and whenever he is with the man, good things come to him. Lovino is irritated; he does not see any good in the potato and wurst eating musclehead. Wait, did Feliciano seriously say that he always want to be with the muslcehead? And so, an argument between Feliciano and Lovino begins (really, it is Lovino lecturing Feliciano).

All of a sudden, he thinks of Fernandez's figure. Both Fernandez and the German dude are muscular, but Fernandez's muscles are pleasing to the eyes while that German is freakishly buff.

"Lovino," Hearing Fernandez'a voice, Lovino looks to the direction of the kitchen. Blood is trickling down from Fernandez's raised right hand. "Can you pass me some tissues?"

Lovino scampers off the couch to fetch him tissues from the table. Fernandez presses some to his wound and goes to the bathroom to clean it up. Lovino wipes off the blood that dripped onto the counter. Fernandez steps out of the bathroom, finds the medical kit and starts digging through it for bandages.

"Sorry, you will have to wait longer for dinner."

"How did you cut your hand? Are you dumb?"

"I was thinking about something and didn't pay attention."

Lovino looks at the wound on Fernandez's hand, then walks over to him and wraps the wound for him, since Fernandez is struggling to do so with only one hand. Fernandez is caught by surprise at Lovino's sudden gesture of tenderness.

Lovino procceeds to the kitchen, picks up the knife and rinses it. "I'll make dinner." is what he says.

"Eh?" Fernandez looks at him incredulously. "Lovino is making dinner?"

"Got a problem, bastard?" Lovino scowls at him.

"Nope," Fernandez smiles and shakes his head. Lovino's show of concern makes him happy. "I'm looking forward to it."

Lovino starts to occupy himself with the work in the kitchen. He is still weak, having not completely recovered from the fever. Not long into working his forehead is full of sweat; he needs to stop every now and then to wipe it off. Fernandez watches Lovino getting occupied with his work. He offers to give Lovino a hand, but the boy just waves him off. So Fernandez sits at the table and watches Lovino in silence, waiting for him to finish.

Lovino brings two dishes to the table when he is finished with cooking and places one in front of Fernandez. Fernandez picks up his fork, digging into the pasta and puts a forkful into his mouth.

"How is it?" Lovino asks.

"This is amazing! You're really good at this, Lovino!" Fernandez remembers the cake Lovino gave him for his birthday. Lovino seems to be quite talented in cooking: the food is damn delicious. "So good... I wish I can have this everyday."

"No way. Today is just an exception. You better thank me good for letting you taste something so awesome."

"Thank you." Fernandez beams and Lovino blushes.

"Stop blabbering and finish it, bastard."

Lovino is satisifed, even happy, at Fernandez's compliment. But of course he will never show it.

After dinner and medicine, Lovino decides to have a bath. Two days of no bathing has left him feeling uncomfortable. He dips himself in the bathtub and welcomes the relaxing sensation. It has been a long time since he last had a bath. The house he and Feliciano rent does not have a bathtub. He stays in the tub until his head starts to spin. He puts on clothes lent to him by Fernandez. The sleeves and pant legs are slight too long. He leaves the bathroom and plops down on the couch. Fernandez is cleaning the kitchen.

"Hey, Lovino, go dry your hair. You will catch another cold if you don't," Fernandez says, but Lovino does not even budge. _This child,_ Fernandez sighs, _he's sick yet he doesn't take good care of his own health._ Fernandez puts down what he is doing and retrieves a towel from the bathroom. He sits down beside Lovino on the couch, and starts drying Lovino's hair.

Lovino remembers that he has been messaging his brother before dinner and he didn't have time to open the last email. What was it again? He whips out his phone and opens the email. _Dammit_ _!_ Feliciano has sent him a photo of him and that German. Feliciano is clinging onto the shirt of the man. An effervescent smile is on Feliciano's face while the German is expressionless, like he is not used to facing a camera. _W_ _hy does Feliciano think he_ _'_ _ll be happy with this kind of guy?_ In the email, Feliciano says, "Luddy finally agreed to have his photo taken!" Lovino is about to lecture Feliciano when he hears Fernandez say, "Is that your brother? He seems really happy."

"Yep. He is happy all the time, that idiot," Lovino responds slowly.

"You should learn from him."

"Huh?"

"Smile whenever you're happy, just like your brother can." Fernandez has never seen Lovino smile. He recalls the photos of Lovino he saw on the Internet; smiling brilliantly is something he is certain Lovino can do.

"No way! Is smiling like an idiot fun?" Lovino says disdainfully as he stares at Feliciano's dumb face. "And what's there to smile about, bastard?" he mutters, but his words are still heard by Fernandez.

"Ah!" Suddenly, Lovino yelps, interrupting Fernandez's train of thoughts.

"Sorry, did I pull on your hair?" Fernandez releases the strand of flyaway curl he is drying.

Lovino sits up with a strange expression and snatches the towel. "I'll do it myself."

"Alright, remember to dry your hair thoroughly." Fernandez gets up and goes to the kitchen to continue the cleaning. Lovino looks down, a blush on his face, and resumes drying his hair. Whenever that strand of curl is tugged, he feels funny. But of course this is a secret that no one will find out.

Bedtime rolls around, Lovino lies in bed. The night is chilly, although he is fully dressed for bed. He is too embarrassed to sleep naked in someone else's house.

Fernandez sits by the bed, he does not plan to go to bed yet. He is in the room to fix Lovino's blanket, because Lovino always kick off his blanket and that makes him worry.

Today too, the sky is layered with dark clouds like it will rain. Suddenly Lovino remembers the pot flowers on his windowsill at home. He promised Feliciano that he will look after the pot of flowers. Hopefully nothing happened in the two days Lovino forgot about it. _There's nothing wrong with not looking after it, right? Does it really matter that the flowers die?_ Surely Feliciano will cry if he finds an empty pot greeting him upon his return. _Ah, goddammit!_

"What's wrong?" Fernandez asks. Something seems off about Lovino.

"Flowers..."

"Flowers?"

"Feliciano's flowers! No one's taking care of it! Feliciano will definitely cry if he comes back and finds them dead, dammit!"

The last part is said quietly, as if Lovino is mumbling to himself. Fernandez bursts out laughing at seeing Lovino like this.

"What are you laughing at, bastard?"

"You really love your brother."

"Huh? What the fuck are you talking about?" Lovino wails, his face red.

"If you are worried about your flowers, I will bring them over tomorrow, okay? It's time for sleep." Fernandez regards Lovino with a tender expression. Lovino complies and closes his eyes.

Watching Lovino falling asleep peacefully, Fernandez can't help but smile. "Goodnight, Lovino," he whispers, then he leaves the bedroom.


End file.
